New York City caps off summer with drop in murders, shootings

New York City ended the summer with data showing murders and shootings dipped down in August compared to the same month in previous years. 

New York Police Department data show murders dropped by 51% from Aug. 1 – 28 of this year, at 25 murders — compared to the 51 murders recorded during the same time period in 2021. 

The 25 murders last month marks a more than 50% decrease in murders during August 2020 and a 26% decreased compared to 2019 — the year prior to murders historically spiking across the country. There have been 282 reported murders from the start of the year through Aug. 28, compared to the 315 reported during the same time period in 2021.

Shooting incidents in August dipped by 22%, at 110 shootings from Aug. 1 – 28, compared to 141 during the same time period last year. The number of shooting victims fell to 129 last month compared to 187 reported victims in August 2021. All in, shooting incidents have fallen by nearly 11% so far this year compared to the same time period in 2021. 

FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER REVEALS EXACT MOMENT POLITICIANS ‘CREATED’ CRIME CRISIS IN NYC

The Big Apple was among cities across the country that saw violent crimes skyrocket in 2020 — when the nation grappled with coronavirus-related lockdowns that upended society in unprecedented ways and when calls to defund the police reverberated across the nation. 

The number of shootings in New York City increased by 97% in 2020 compared to 2019 and murders jumped by 44% compared to the year prior. 

MOST NYC RESIDENTS SAY CITY IS LESS SAFE SINCE PANDEMIC, FEAR BEING VICTIM OF VIOLENT CRIME

Murders across the board spiked by nearly 30% in 2020 compared to the year prior, according to FBI data, marking the largest single-year increase in killings since the agency began tracking the crimes. 

Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former cop, campaigned on a platform of cracking down on crime last year as New Yorkers reported feeling unsafe in their own city. He has since touted the importance of officers patrolling the city’s streets, and has taken on initiatives such as revamping how officers police public transportation and cracking down on illegal guns in the city. 

“Public safety and the criminal justice system includes police and when I go to my communities of color, and I’ve never heard them, never, heard them say: ‘Eric we want less police.’ Never,” Adams said on a radio show last month.

FBI DATA SHOWS LARGE INCREASE IN MURDERS IN 2020 NATIONWIDE

As murders and shootings fell this year, nearly all other crimes in the city have ticked up. Robberies, burglaries, grand larcenies and auto thefts have all risen in the city by between 32.6% and 46.6% each so far this year compared to 2021, the New York Post reported. 

Reports of rape have also increased by nearly 9% compared to 2021, according to NYPD data examining crime from the start of the year through Aug. 28. Rape incidents in the month of August, however, fell by roughly 8% compared to August 2021. 

Adams’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on murders and shootings dipping in the city.