Assaults On Cops One Of Few Crimes Not To Drop: NYPD

NEW YORK CITY — Nearly all crime in New York City dropped in February, except for one noteworthy category: assaults against cops.

Or at least that's what NYPD officials said Friday as they unveiled the latest batch of monthly crime statistics.

Major crimes overall fell 5.6 percent compared to February 2022, with significant decreases in murders, rapes, robberies and burglaries, the data shows.

Only two of seven major crime categories — felony assaults and grand larcenies of autos — rose, said Michael Lipetri, the NYPD's chief of crime control strategies.

"The felony assaults were driven by assaults on police officers who were conducting enforcement," he said.

"Enforcement" is a key plank of Mayor Eric Adams' push to lower crime — and many New Yorkers' perception of danger — in New York City.

How that translated was a surge in arrests for crimes, both major and minor, according to the statistics. It also apparently put police officers and New Yorkers into hostile situations with each other, based off Lipetri's comments about reported assaults against cops.

Arrests in February reached a 23-year-high and a 24-year-high for year, Lipetri said.

Enforcement on quality of life offenses was up 300 percent, he said.

"The enforcement that we're focused on is the calls we're receiving from the community, mostly consumption of alcohol, disorderly groups and public urination," he said.

Shoplifting, which has been a growing concern over the coronavirus pandemic, also fell in February by 500 complaints from the same time last year, Lipetri said.

Shootings and transit crimes, two other recent concerns, both fell 14.7 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively, in February, according to the crime statistics.