Shootings spike 127% in Sept.
Increase happened even as NYPD made record number of gun arrests
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
The NYPD accentuated
the positive in its September
crime statistics report by touting
a record number of gun arrests
during the month. Even
so, shootings across New York
City had also doubled from the
previous year, continuing a violent
summertime trend into
the fall.
Police reported 152 shooting
incidents citywide in September
2020 — a 127% spike
from the 67 shootings that occurred
12 months earlier. That
surge helped account for a 91%
increase in shootings citywide
between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 of
this year.
Correlating with the shooting
spike was another increase
in murders, with 51 incidents
last month — up from
just 29 homicides recorded in
September 2019.
Meanwhile, NYPD offi cers
also made 2,801 gun arrests in
September 2020 — the highest
monthly total recorded since
the department launched its
CompStat crime tracking program
in 1994. Law enforcement
offi cials explained that offi cers
refocused their efforts “on the
drivers of serious crime and
taking illegal fi rearms off
the streets.”
At the same time, the NYPD
lost 2,500 offi cers due to attrition
and budget-related cutbacks
which eliminated a police
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,32 OCTOBER 9-15, 2020 BTR
academy class and pared
the overtime budget.
“Despite the unparalleled
challenges they face every day,
our offi cers continue to engage
with the community and zero
in on the drivers of crime,”
Police Commissioner Dermot
Shea said. “I thank the men
and women of the NYPD who
work relentlessly, day-in and
day-out, to keep New Yorkers
in every neighborhood safe. We
will continue to address crime
upticks and work in close partnership
with the residents we
are sworn to serve.”
Overall crime for September
2020 jumped by 2.4%, with
a total of 8,952 major crimes
(murder, rape, robbery, assault,
burglary, grand larceny,
auto thefts) reported. Burglaries
spiked by 37.6% (1,255 incidents)
and auto thefts ballooned
by 70.5% (977 total
incidents) — some of the highest
totals for these categories
in recent memory.
Meanwhile, robbery, assault
and grand larceny
each fell by 11.2%, 6.3% and
6.8%, respectively.
Rapes were also down 19.2%,
with 139 incidents reported
— but the NYPD believes the
crime is being underreported.
Anyone who is a sex crime victim
should call the NYPD Special
Victims Division 24-hour
hotline at 212-267-RAPE.
While shootings surged,
crime int he transit system
plunged by 51.5% in September
— with 113 incidents reported.
That comes as the MTA continues
to slowly recover from
a 90% plunge in ridership in
March and April, at the peak of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, hate crimes had
dropped by 33% year to date,
police reported.
Photo by Edwin Soto