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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 8-14, 2022
BXR
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
As the Adams administration
approaches the 100-day
benchmark, New York City
saw crime rise for the fourth
straight month — a 36.5% rise
from last year — as shootings
and thefts increased in March.
In the Bronx, almost every statistical
crime category, with
exception of rape, saw a rise
of more than 30% since February.
Kingbridge’s 50th Precinct
and Hunts Points’ 41st Precinct
saw the biggest spikes,
90% and 86%, respectively, in
crimes over the past month,
with major jumps in felony assaults
and robberies. To date,
there have been 2,098 criminal
offenses in the Bronx, a 48%
increase over the same timeframe
last year.
Robberies (+37.9%), grand
larceny (+34%) and burglary
(+30.2%) all jumped last month
in the borough, and NYPD officials
in Bronx precincts told
the Bronx Times that retail
theft will become a focus of
the new Neighborhood Safety
Teams — a reconfiguration of
the NYPD’s anti-crime units
that were disbanded in 2020 —
which includes more than 400
assigned officers.
According to the NYPD,
since their deployment on
March 14, the first 218 of the
officers assigned to Neighborhood
Safety Teams have made
121 arrests, including 25 for
gun possession. The teams assembled
are working in the 30
precincts and four Police Service
Areas accounting for 80%
of the city’s shooting incidents
in 2021.
In recent weeks, innocent
bystanders have been caught
in the middle of reckless gunfire,
including a 61-year-old
woman who died from stray
gunfire in the Fordham section
this week, and a 12-yearold
Brooklyn boy who was shot
dead in the passenger seat of a
car by a stray bullet on March
31.
“The officers doing this vital
work are ensuring that
these guns never victimize another
New Yorker,” said Chief
of Department Kenneth Corey.
“This is the most dangerous
kind of work we do, but it can
have the greatest impact on
public safety. Our officers are
precisely targeting the small
number of criminals willing
to carry a gun, and to use it.”
The Adams administration
has put gun violence and
gun proliferation at the top of
its crime strategy. Citywide
shooting incidents increased
by 16.2% in March compared
with the same period last year.
In March, officers made 410
gun arrests driving the first
quarter total to 1,207 illegal
firearms arrests, the highest
number of quarterly gun arrests
since early 2021.
“The NYPD will continue
to provide fair, effective, and
responsive policing that best
reflects the needs of the communities
we serve,” said Police
(null) File photo
Commissioner Keechant L.
Sewell. “But the NYPD needs
the steadfast commitment of
all its partners, pulling in the
same direction, to realize our
goal of public safety for every
New Yorker.”
Thefts, shootings continue to rise
in latest NYPD crime stats
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