Murders up 55% as crime declines
10 B’klyn precincts top contributor to slay rise
Murders citywide are up 55% so far this year, even as the overall crime rate is down 8%.
There were 48 slayings in the city this year through Sunday, compared with 31 during the corresponding period last year, NYPD stats show.
The biggest contributor to the bump is the 10 precincts that comprise Brooklyn North.
Last year at this time, there were a total of three murders in all 10 precincts in that command. This year, there have been 15, an increase of 400%.
There have been four murders in Bedford-Stuyvesant's 79th Precinct, compared with a single killing last year at this time.
And in East New York's 75th Precinct, there have been three murders, compared with none during the corresponding period last year.
The shooting numbers in Brooklyn North are also troubling, with 22 people shot, compared with 13 last year, a rise of 69%.
The 75th and 79th precincts each have had five shootings, three more than last year.
Murders are also up in northern Queens, with no murders by this time last year but four slayings this year. Homicides are on the rise in southern Brooklyn too, with seven murders total in those precincts, up from four by this time last year.
Deputy Commissioner Phillip Walzak, the NYPD's top spokesman, said the police, focusing on the known offenders who commit a large chunk of the violent crime, will bring the murder rate down, just as the department has in the past.
“The NYPD will use these proven tactics to address any temporary upticks,” he said, “so that every New Yorker — regardless of zip code — can live in safety.”
One other major crime category, rape, continues to trend upward, with 239 reported around the city, 21% more than the 198 last year during the same time frame.
Police have attributed that to the #MeToo movement empowering victims to come forward and file reports.
The other five categories that determine the crime rate — robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto — are all down between 6% and 14% this year.
Police Commissioner James O'Neill last month said the department plans to focus more on six precincts where the violent crime rate is more than twice that of the rest of the city.
Two of the precincts, the 75th and the 73rd, in Brownsville, are part of Brooklyn North.