Not a shot in arm we need
B’klyn gun violence spikes
Brooklyn gunmen don’t take a holiday, even for the coronavirus.
Shootings in the borough have actually jumped since the contagion hit, unlike elsewhere in the city — prompting the NYPD to transfer detectives and beat cops there to try to combat the uptick, police told The Post on Friday.
“With the social distancing, you would figure that violence would drop and we would have less violent acts in regards to shootings, though we’re not seeing that in Brooklyn,” NYPD Chief Michael Lipetri said.
He said drug-related gang shootings are fueling the rise — with parolees or people out on probation being targeted.
“We do see that same trend that we’ve seen since the beginning of the year, where that [drug] crew nexus is responsible for about half of our shootings” in Brooklyn, Lipetri said.
Brooklyn has seen a nearly 6 percent increase in gunplay and 10.5 percent increase in shooting victims since March 16 compared with the same period last year, according to the latest statistics. In terms of numbers, that’s two more shootings and four additional victims.
Gun violence has slowed in all the other boroughs, including Manhattan, which has recorded nearly 30 percent fewer incidents and 16 fewer victims.
So far this year, shootings citywide are still up by 7.4 percent, from 217 to 233 — but during the outbreak, shootings went down overall 11.1 percent, according to NYPD data.
The added cops have at least helped bolster gun arrests in Brooklyn, where the largest number of firearms busts have been made in the city, according to the NYPD.
But police sources griped about the added patrols, complaining that most people arrested won’t even be arraigned.
“We are asking our men and women to go out there and make arrests in this trying time, transport them down to central booking,” just to have them freed because of COVID-19, a source said.
A rep for the Brooklyn DA’s Office responded, “The fact is that the NYPD solved only 11 percent of shootings in Brooklyn during the public-health emergency and just 23 percent of shootings for all of 2020, leaving dangerous individuals on the streets.”
The rep said the DA has only deferred prosecution on nonviolent cases that are not eligible for bail and defendants would be released regardless.