Crime rates in New York City are continuing to rise as we trek deeper into 2022.
According to NYPD statistics, crime in New York City increased by 27.8%, with 10,414 crimes in May 2022 compared to 8,149 in May 2021. The number of murders in May 2022 increased year-over-over from 41 in May 2021 to 45, a 9.8% change. The number of grand larcenies saw a 41.2% jump from 2,897 crimes in May 2021 to 4,116 crimes in May 2022, while felony assaults increased from 2,043 crimes in May 2021 to 2,307 in May 2022, a 12.9% spike.
Incidents of auto theft increased from 895 in May 2021 to 1,044 in May 2022, a 16.6% increase, while robberies saw a 26.2% increase compared to May 2021 (885 last month compared to 688 in 2021). The number of rape cases increased from 114 last year to 157 in May 2022, a 37.7% increase — however, the NYPD acknowledges that rape continues to be underreported.
Despite the rise in overall crime, the number of shooting incidents in May 2022 declined compared to May 2021. Citywide shooting incidents decreased by 31.4% (118 in May 2021 v. 172 in May 2022), marked by declines in every patrol borough except Staten Island, where the tally remained even at three in May 2022 compared with May 2021. There were 414 gun arrests last month, bringing the total number of citywide gun arrests in 2022 to 2,007 – a 4.4% increase compared with the 1,923 gun arrests through the first five months of 2021. The NYPD has also seized approximately 3,080 firearms so far in 2022, at a time when its gun arrests are at a 28-year high.
The decrease in shootings coincides with the NYPD’s work to roll out the Neighborhood Safety Teams, which have seized 105 firearms and effected 115 gun arrests since their inception in mid-March, as well as the Department’s ongoing work to develop and investigate intelligence-based, long-term cases focused on the very few New Yorkers willing to pick up a gun and use it.
“We have pointed every resource we have at reducing gun violence in this city. We have seen seven straight weeks of shootings going down – and that is not a coincidence,” said Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell. “We are using an intelligence-led approach and gun arrests are being made in numbers we haven’t seen in almost 30 years, but we understand that we have to be relentless because lives depend on it.”
