It's Official: NYC Violence Hit Years-Long High In 2020

New York City NY

08 January, 2021

4:51 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — Violence across New York City in 2020 — a year defined by a pandemic and historic social unrest — hit levels unseen in years. There were 462 murders in the city last year, according to NYPD's yearly crime statistics released this week. It's highest number of New Yorkers claimed by violence since 2011, as well as a 44 percent jump over the level in 2019. Overall crime reports for the year actually were down in 2020 — a "record low" according to an NYPD release. But while authorities trumpeted the drop, they also acknowledged the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and massive protests following the killing of George Floyd. "New York City and its Police Department were buffeted by conflicting forces in 2020, as a historic low in overall index crime was accompanied by significant upticks in homicides, shootings, burglaries and car thefts," according to a release. NYPD reported 1,531 shooting incidents in 2020, compared to 777 the year before. That's a 97 percent jump. The rash of shootings spiked over the summer, as Mayor Bill de Blasio blamed a "perfect storm" from the pandemic, economic distress and disruption from lockdowns. Cops stepped up gun arrests, performing 4,253 over the year, with more than half occurring the last four months, according to a release. "The NYPD made an arrest in 32% of shooting incidents and established probable cause to arrest a suspect in an additional 6% of shooting incidents," a release states. "On murders, NYPD detectives cleared 54% of homicides that occurred within calendar 2020."