Shootings up 150% in the Bronx: NYPD
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
In a month that was defi
ned by a tragic apartment
fi re, young, innocent bystanders
caught in reckless gunfi re
and a cop shot in Belmont,
the Bronx saw a 22.6% rise
in overall crime — including
a 150% increase in shootings
— compared to January 2021,
according to end-of-the-month
crime statistics released by
the NYPD.
Crime in New York City
also escalated by nearly 40%
overall during that same period.
In total, the Bronx saw major
year-over-year increases
in shootings, larcenies (102%),
burglaries (71%) and assaults
(37%), police data shows.
Only two of the Bronx’s 12
police precincts saw a dip in
crime last month, as the Edenwald
based 47th Precinct
and Mosholu-based 52nd Precinct
saw levels drop by 4.7%
and 47%, respectively. Overall
crime exploded, however, in
the Tremont area’s 48th Precinct
by 89%, with jumps in
felony assaults and grand larceny.
Eastchester’s 49th Precinct,
Kingsbridge’s 50th Precinct,
Soundview’s 43 Precinct
and Throggs Neck’s 45th Precinct
all saw crime rates skyrocket
more than 50% over
this period last year, with the
former two seeing crime jump
by more than 60%.
A police source told the
Times that February’s crime
statistics, in contrast to January’s,
could paint an even
clearer picture of overall
crime in the city due to lack of
foot traffi c in January 2021 before
vaccinations were widely
accessible.
Citywide, murder was the
only crime that decreased
from a year ago, with major
spikes in shootings (32%),
transit crimes (70%) and hate
crimes, which are up 79%, the
department noted.
The crime reduction strategy
of the month-old Adams
administration is through a
15-page document, “The Blueprint
to End Gun Violence,”
which aims to end gun violence
in the city by immediately
ramping up law enforcement
and deploying more
offi cers in the streets and subways.
The Bronx District Attorney’s
offi ce scored a major
win in locating a major
The Bronx saw a 22.6% rise in overall crime from last year, including a 150% jump in shootings.
Photo courtesy Getty
source of gun proliferation in
the city by arresting a 23-yearold
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 14 FEB. 11-17, 2022 BTR
Bronx college student who
faces more than 300 charges
for selling 73 fi rearms, and is
alleged to have smuggled guns
and high-capacity magazines
from Tennessee to New York
City.
In 2020, the number of
shootings in New York City
more than doubled to 1,531
over the previous year; then
they climbed again, to 1,562 in
2021, the highest fi gure in 15
years.
“The NYPD will forever
work to ensure public safety
and will never give up this
city,” said Police Commissioner
Keechant Sewell. “This
is our solemn vow to New
Yorkers and to New York City.
It remains critical that all
partners come to the table in
this shared mission to combat
gun violence. ”
DOC offi cer arrested
for domestic incident
Keila Brown, a New York City Department
of Corrections employee, was
arrested at 8:25 a.m. on Tuesday stemming
from an off-duty domestic incident
last month.
Brown, 43, was charged with assault
and criminal obstruction of breathing,
both misdemeanors, regarding an incident
that took place in a Bronx residence
in the 46th Precinct at approximately 5
p.m. on Jan. 9, a police spokesman told
the Bronx Times.
According to the criminal complaint,
Brown and her husband got into a verbal
dispute before she grabbed his neck with
both hands and squeezed, and punched him
in the face multiple times.
As a result, her husband suffered substantial
pain to his neck, and experienced
annoyance, alarm and fear for his safety, according
to the complaint.
He is not facing charges from the incident,
the police source said.
According to city data, Brown — formerly
known as Keila Rivera — has worked
for the Department of Corrections (DOC)
since August 2004.
Payroll information shows that she
worked as a correction offi cer in Queens,
with a salary of $85,000 in 2020, which increased
to $92,000 in 2021.
A Department of Corrections spokesperson
told the Bronx Times that Brown works
A Corrections employee was arrested for assault
from a domestic incident last month
with her husband. Photo courtesy Getty
in the Applicant Investigation Unit, which
is responsible for ensuring the department
hires the most qualifi ed candidates to join
the department as correction offi cers.
A May 2018 report released by the city
Department of Investigation identifi ed various
candidates hired by DOC with arrest records.
The corrections department’s policy
on employee arrests depends on the
charges, and any employee arrested on felony
charges is immediately suspended, the
spokesperson said.
The spokesperson did not answer
whether Brown’s charges have impacted
her employment.
Brown does not have a record of arrests
in New York state prior to this incident, according
to police.
-Aliya Schneider
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