Edited by: TJVNews.com
As the Coronavirus pandemic keeps New Yorkers hunkered down in their homes, it appears that being on the streets of America’s large city aren’t as dangerous as they used to be. If anything at all positive has emanated from this dreaded virus that claims lives every day, it is the fact that the crime rate has taken a significant plunge in Gotham.
Last week for example, the NY Daily News has reported that crime in the five boroughs dropped 25%. One person was murdered compared to eight people the week before, authorities said on Monday.
According to NYPD statistics, compared to the week before last there was an overall decrease in the crime rate and that includes murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary and grand larceny.
In the case of stolen vehicles, the NY Post reported that thirty-five more vehicles were reported stolen this year, marking a 52% increase from the same week last year.
The Daily News reported that rapes were more than cut in half, from 33 the week before last to 15 last week and the number of robberies were down 8%, to 210 from 229.
There were just 16 people shot last week, compared to 20 the week before. And with more people home, burglaries dropped 19%, to 173 from 213, according to the NY Daily News report.
The NY Post reported that grand larceny was down 31% with 517 reported so far this year, compared to 753 last year. Rape and other sex crimes were both down, 69% and 43%, respectively. Felony assault was down nearly 9% and misdemeanor assault down was 21%.
“It is a combination of individuals heeding the advice to stay home and [distancing] themselves from other people,” said NYPD Sgt. Joseph Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives MattersNYC.
The Daily News reported that for the year, however, crime remains up substantially, with law enforcement officials blaming criminal justice and bail reform measures they see as poorly conceived.
Police sources say that this kind of reduction in crime was to be expected as New York City has come to a grinding halt with the streets being nearly empty due to the new rules about social distancing that the Coronavirus pandemic has caused.
According to the NY Post report, because a number of NYPD officers have tested positive for the Coronavirus, cops in the Big Apple are taking the practice of social distancing quite seriously. The Post reported that officers made 1,800 fewer arrests over the last seven days and wrote nearly 10,000 fewer tickets compared to the same period last year, according to department statistics.
Speaking to the NY Post, Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the numbers show how police “priorities are different right now.”
“Nobody is paying attention to the little stuff. Focus on the big stuff. Not really focused on doing car stops,” he told the Post..
Last week, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea pledged cops had “no intention of strategically cutting enforcement during this coronavirus outbreak.”
