Brooklyn Sees Nearly 50% Drop In Shootings In August: Stats

BROOKLYN, NY — Newly-released crime statistics show what officials call an "amazing success" curbing shootings in Brooklyn, a hotspot for a citywide surge in violent crime that began in the pandemic, officials said this week.

The August crime numbers, released Tuesday, show a 47.7 percent decrease in the number of shootings in Brooklyn when compared to the same month last year, when gun violence particularly plagued much of the borough.

The drop was highlighted as a particular sign of hope in what officials say has been a "turning point" in tackling the pandemic crime spike.

"Brooklyn — historically, particularly Brooklyn North — was an area we had a lot of challenges," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "But, Brooklyn has been an amazing success story now."

The Brooklyn decrease was higher than a citywide drop in the number of shootings in August, the third month in a row New York City saw a decline in violent crimes.

Across the five boroughs, shootings were down 31 percent in August and murders were down nearly 9 percent compared to last year, the NYPD announced Tuesday.

NYPD officials touted an increase in the number of gun arrests as a reason for this summer's crime drop. In Brooklyn 130 people were arrested for guns in August alone, according to the data.

A number of high-profile gang takedowns also contributed to the decrease, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. Large cases that were delayed during the coronavirus pandemic were finally brought in front of grand juries this year, he said.

"[Getting the] most violent people off the street — that's when you saw that drop," he said.

There have been at least four large-scale gang takedowns in Brooklyn in 2021, including the "900 street gang" in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights and their rivals, the Hoolies, who were connected to a stray-bullet death of 1-year-old Davell Gardner Jr.

Recent gang busts also include a group of young gang members who called themselves the "Babiiez" and leaders of the "Folk Nation Gangster Disciplines" gang.

All together, the cases brought charges for more than 40 acts of violence, largely in 2020, but dating back to 2018.

Violence has gripped the city starting in summer 2020 — a crime wave de Blasio repeatedly blamed on a "perfect storm" of social disruptions swirling around the coronavirus pandemic.

De Blasio in May unveiled his own strategy dubbed "Safe Summer NYC," a mix of community-focused measures and targeted NYPD enforcement on violent hotspots and guns.

NYPD officials and de Blasio contended that there is still work to be done, though. Both Shea and the mayor have pointed to a 'lagging' court system as a remaining problem in curbing the crime surge.