Murders and shootings occurred in New York City as crimes increased
Overall crime in New York City fell slightly last year compared to 2022, although the number of crimes and car thefts remained stubbornly high, police said Wednesday.
The city saw significant declines in shootings and murders, as well as robberies, burglaries, assaults and grand thefts – all categories defined as major crimes.
The decline in gun violence and homicides occurred as other cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Los Angeles also saw sharp declines in homicides and other major crimes.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised the police, touting the decline as a sign that the city was making progress in improving public safety and increasing the perception that New York is safe.
“I will say it again and again until we all believe it, see it and hear it,” he said at a news conference at police headquarters on Wednesday. “Crime is down. There are more jobs and there are tourists in our city again.”
The city’s overall crime rate fell 0.3 percent and arrests rose nearly 20 percent.
Commissioner Edward Caban, who took over the department in July after the abrupt resignation of Commissioner Keechant Sewell, said police had seized more than 13,000 illegal guns in the past two years, a feat he said had “ripple effects” on overall crime .
“Of course we are not done yet,” Commissioner Caban said, adding: “Your police will continue to be present in every neighborhood to take violent criminals off our streets.”
Shootings took place in all five boroughs. About 400 fewer people were shot last year than in 2022, when 1,566 were shot.
In 2023 there were 386 murders, a decrease of 12 percent compared to 2022.
But last year also saw a continuation of a disturbing trend in the number of murders and shootings of people under the age of 18.
On Tuesday, that pattern continued in Brooklyn, where a 15-year-old boy was fatally shot while visiting friends at the Bayview Houses in Canarsie, where he used to live.
The boy, Javel Lawton, was shot after about five people approached him as he walked out of the housing complex, said Joseph Kenny, chief of police detectives.
The group of men approached Javel and apparently began arguing, Chief Kenny said. One pulled out a gun and shot five bullets. Javel, who also had a firearm, returned fire but did not hit anyone. He was pronounced dead at Brookdale Hospital.
The increase in the number of crimes also continued to worry the police. In 2023, there were 27,849 crimes, an increase of over 1,650 compared to 2022. More than a third of these cases involved victims of domestic violence.
Officials said attacks on police officers also contributed to the increase. More than 2,235 police officers were assaulted, 350 more than in 2022, the police said.
Christopher Herrmann, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said researchers needed “more detailed data on where these attacks are happening to understand why they are happening.”
But Mayor Adams blamed the increasing number of police attacks on a criminal system that had become less punitive.
“We don’t impose great responsibility on people when they attack law enforcement,” he said.
He also appeared to wave at a banknote passed by the city council last month that would require police officers to keep a log every time they stop a person on the street while investigating a crime.
On Wednesday, Mr. Adams said his government would push back on “any form of forcing our officers not to do police work and not to do paperwork.”
Mr. Adams said critics of the police were out of touch with “working New Yorkers,” and he cited Jumaane Williams, the city’s public advocate, who supported the bill. The mayor described Mr. Williams as an isolated public servant who “lives in a fortress”, does not take the subway and is controlled by a police detail. (Mr. Adams also has a police detail.)
Mr. Williams held his own news conference to respond, calling Mr. Adams’ statements those of a “5-year-old boy having a tantrum” and noting that he understood the mayor “lives in New Jersey with his girlfriend. ”
The measure, Mr. Williams said, is a “simple transparency bill” that would “provide some kind of basic record of the types of stops that our law enforcement officers are conducting.”
Police also blamed criminal justice reform measures for the rise in car thefts.
Last year, officials blamed the increase in car thefts on TikTok videos showing how to steal Kias and Hyundais, the models among the most stolen.
But on Wednesday, Chief Michael Lipetri said it has become more difficult for people arrested on grand theft auto charges to be held on bond.
The comments don’t reflect what the data shows: Crime fell after bail reform, said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“It’s great that crime is down in New York City, but we’re dealing with a mayor who, no matter what the data says, is pushing for more police,” Ms. Lieberman said.