NEW YORK CITY, NY – The preliminary numbers are in for 2020 when it relates to violent crime statistics in The Big Apple – and the data shows that the city hosted an amount of violence not seen in roughly 14 years.
NYPD ends 2020 with 97% jump in shootings — violence not seen in 16 years https://t.co/XksXDoimnv
— Mynameis…Miro (@zg4ever) January 2, 2021
Preliminary data that was released by the NYPD on January 1st shows that there was a 97% increase in shooting incidents in 2020 when compared to 2019.
As for homicides, that jumped up by 45% as well.
When reviewing the 2020 data, it showed that the city played host to 1,531 shooting incidents – resulting in 1,868 people being shot. For the sake of perspective, there were a total of 777 shooting incidents in NYC in all of 2019, where 2020 saw 754 more on top of those numbers.
With regard to murder rate within the city, there were a reported 462 killings in 2020 – 143 more than all the murders in 2019 across NYC’s five boroughs.
According to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, NYC hasn’t seen this level of violence since 2006; which that year played host to 1,565 shooting incidents.
— Will Hirsch (@searchingthru) January 2, 2021
Increases in crimes such as burglaries and car thefts also transpired in 2020 when compared to last year, but there was a decrease in reported rapes, robberies and assaults.
There were already concerns as early as December of 2019 that NYC was going to have increases in overall crimes with the then-impending bail reform that was slated to go into effect in January of 2020.
While the city technically saw less crime overall in 2020 – when taking into account every type of crime that can be committed – obviously, certain offenses of a more egregious natures saw disturbing spikes.
Eugene O’Donnell, a former police officer and current instructor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, was among those that knew 2020 was going to be a rough year early on:
“Everybody saw this coming last December.”
O’Donnell, making reference to bail reform, alleged that Mayor Bill de Blasio and those among his inner circle were complicit in downplaying criminal offenses – via bail reform that saw people released from jail for a slew of alleged offenses – to the point “where there are bodies in the street.”
NYPD ends 2020 with 97% jump in shootings — violence not seen in 16 years
The city endured a 2020 crime surge straight out of hell: a 97% jump in shootings and a nearly 45% surge in murders, including 15 weeks straight of gunfire as COVID-19 ravaged New York.— Edward Elderman (@edwereddie) January 1, 2021
Continuing on those sentiments, O’Donnell also stated:
“They seem to be saying the system is rotten, that they’d rather have a body count.”
“The mayor doesn’t do public safety. He sends Shea out there and Shea has to do his song and dance. He doesn’t endorse arrests. He doesn’t endorse prosecutions. He doesn’t believe it in, really.”
“Where are the people who mandated this? At the very least they dropped the ball. They tragedy is we have more and more dead kids. Their lives do not matter.”
However, there are those who disagree with O’Donnell’s framing of what led to the increase in violent crime in the city – namely, mayoral spokesman Bill Neidhardt:
“Shootings are up nationally, which clearly shows this is driven by the pandemic, not bail reform or any forces that are specific to New York City.”
“Yes, Mayor de Blasio has driven down arrests, that’s because he is opposed to mass incarceration. The mayor regularly calls for people who commit violent crimes to be arrested, so I don’t know what Eugene is going on about here.”
Among the outlooks present, Commissioner She says that he sees “better times ahead,” regarding 2021 and cracking down on crime:
“This year, we will redouble our efforts to improve quality of life, better-engage our young people, and eliminate gang violence.”
When addressing New York’s Finest, Commissioner Shea stated that the road to a better city won’t be easy, but that the city needs the department’s officer “now more than ever”:
“Make no mistake: We have a tough road ahead. The city needs you now more than ever. People are looking to our police department — and to you — for reassurance, guidance, and a sense that our city is under control.”
John Eterno, a retired NYPD captain, doesn’t seem to share the level of optimism that Commissioner Shea has regarding 2021:
“I guess [Commissioner Shea] has to say that. But it’s just the opposite of that.”
The rationale behind Eterno’s skepticism for 2021 being a safer year than 2020 stems from matters like the NYPD having been defunded by $1 billion, absolving the department from School Safety endeavors, and also the social workers handling certain calls.
Eterno claims that the people trying to reshape policing don’t have any idea of what the profession actually entails:
“Ninety-five percent of police officers don’t fire their gun in the line of duty, but the general public doesn’t know this. They need to understand this far better.”
“Otherwise, you just get these quick fixes. It shouldn’t be because you watch an episode of ‘Law & Order,’ you know policing. You don’t.”
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