New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has revealed that the homicide rate in New York has increased by 47 percent between 2019 and 2020 and that a whopping 70 percent of shootings have gone unsolved.
Cuomo discussed the crime in New York City during his COVID briefing Friday morning, citing numbers in the context of the upcoming mayor’s race.
“Crime in New York City is a big deal,” said Cuomo.
He went on to quote alarming statistics on crime in the city and pointed out that the homicide rate has increased by 47 percent between 2019 and 2020.
New York City’s 2020 crime wave resulted in a 47 percent increase in homicides
The NYPD reported 468 murders in 2020, after reporting just 319 murders in 2019, an increase of 46.7 percent.
The 468 murders in 2020 were the most in the city. 515 murders were registered in 2011.
Cuomo also stated that more than 92 percent of the victims of the previous year’s shooting were black or Hispanic, another blow to communities reeling from the COVID-19 crisis.
Cuomo also appeared to be targeting the NYPD, saying ’70 percent [of shootings] are unresolved. ‘
Governor Andrew Cuomo discussed crime figures in New York City on Friday
Cuomo also cited crime as a “ big problem ” before reminding the city of an April 1 deadline to adopt a police reform plan in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing unrest.
In addition, Cuomo discussed the dangers of homeless people, including an anecdote of a colleague who was beaten in the head by a homeless person on the subway.
Recently, several people were stabbed and two were killed by a homeless man on the subway, leading to 644 officers being deployed underground in NYC.
However, the transport company in charge of the metro hoped that 1,500 agents would be deployed on the metro.
“It’s up to them what they do,” said Cuomo, who tasked the mayor and New York City with reducing crime, rather than the state.
In the wake of the turmoil caused by George Floyd’s murder, Cuomo issued guidelines calling for statewide police reform, with plans to be passed by April 1 to receive government funding.
“We need to address the tensions and lack of trust between our communities and the law enforcement agencies that serve them,” Cuomo said in June.
‘I understand it’s complicated. I understand it is difficult. But people die. New Yorkers are not fleeing crisis – this is a time for leadership and action. Local elected officials must work with the community and their police forces to develop and implement reforms for a safer, fairer police standard. ‘
Cuomo was quick to recall in his briefing that April 1 is only 41 days away.
Another crime statistic from Cuomo was that 92 percent of the shooting victims were black or Hispanic
Not all news on the New York City crime front was bad in 2020.
For the seventh year in a row, major crimes in the city have fallen, although the decline from 2019 has been marginal, with only 13 crimes less in 2020.
The New Year kicked off favorably for crime in the city, as the homicide rate rose 125 percent in the first ten days of 2021 from a year ago.
Since then, however, reports of major crimes such as murders in the city have started to decline.
During Valentine’s Day, there were 38 murders in New York City, down 11.6 percent from a year ago.
While the homicide rate was up 47 percent last year, there was a drop in the number of crimes
The homicide rate in New York increased by 125% in the first 10 days of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020
Rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries and cases of major theft have also declined since that time a year ago, all at double digits, excluding burglaries (9.8 percent lower).
The only offense on the rise since a year ago is car for major theft, which is 9.9 percent higher than last year.
Mayor candidates are still clarifying their crime messages, but with the Democratic primaries only four months away, patterns are emerging.
The New York Times reports that many of the leading candidates avoided phone calls to defund the police, although city warden Scott Stringer used the phrase before later changing his message to back down from that view.