NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York City saw a sharp drop in murders and shootings this July as police continued to pull more guns off the street, officials announced Thursday.
The number of murders in the city decreased by 49.1 percent when comparing July figures to the same month last year, down to 29 murders compared to 57. Shootings meanwhile dropped by 35 percent when making the same July comparisons, to 158 from 243 shootings, according to NYPD data.
“We saw a perfect storm of problems, challenges, crises all hitting together in 2020 like nothing we’ve ever seen in our lives – but we’re fighting back; we’re coming back strong,” de Blasio said during a news conference Thursday. “This city for years and years was known as the safest big city in America; that is happening again.”
The NYPD also made 383 gun arrests in July, a 133.5 percent increase compared to July of 2020. Gun arrests in total are up 44.5 percent through the first seven months of 2021, according to NYPD data.
“This is now two months in a row and I take a lot of positive[s] in that – two months in a row that we’re driving the violence down in New York City,” said NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.
Several violent crime categories have increased slightly in 2021, including year-to-date figures for rapes and felony assaults. Hate crimes against Asians have also led to a precipitous increase in the crime category this year.
Both de Blasio and Shea said they have no regrets over disbanding the NYPD’s controversial plainclothes Anti-Crime units last year, which brought criticism from conservatives. Democratic mayoral nominee Eric Adams, whom de Blasio has endorsed, has pledged to bring back a reformed version of the units.
“No, we do not regret [disbanding the units]. It was the right thing to do; it remains the right thing to do,” de Blasio said, adding that he understood Adam’s point of view.
“[Adams] has said clearly that if you were to bring it, he would make real changes in terms of addressing community concerns,” de Blasio added. “So he has said that there’s issues that have to be addressed.”
After the units were disbanded, Shea said the NYPD moved those officers to other departments. The NYPD in part up-staffed gun violence units and other units involving “intelligence-led policing,” the commissioner said. In some instances, Shea said it was as straightforward as just putting a uniform on the once-plainclothes officer.
“We’ve also had many of the same officers that were in Anti-Crime simply put a uniform on and do the exact same job in the same precinct – but making sure we’re doing it the right way,” Shea added.