Nearly Half NYC's July Murders Were Gang-Related, NYPD Says

NEW YORK, NY — New York City saw a rash of gang-related murders in July despite the number of slayings tying an all-time record low for the month, police said Thursday. Nearly half — 43 percent — of the 24 murders recorded last month had some kind of "gang nexus," said Lori Pollock, the NYPD's chief of crime control strategies.

Northern Brooklyn saw half a dozen slayings — a quarter of the July total — including four gang-related cases in which kids 16 or younger were shot and killed by members of the same age group, Pollock said.

The spate of gang deaths followed the June 20 murder of 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, who authorities say was brutally slaughtered in the Bronx by reputed members of the violent Trinitarios gang.

NYPD figures show huge spikes in the numbers of teenage killers and victims. Twelve kids 17 or younger have been murdered so far this year, up from three last year, Pollock said. Another dozen in that age group have been identified as perpetrators in murders this year to date, up from four last year, she said.

"This highlights the need for community involvement when youth begin to go down the wrong path," Pollock said.

Despite the grim numbers, the city saw the safest July on record last month with year-over-year drops in murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries, the NYPD said.

The number of so-called index crimes — murder, rape, burglary, felony assault, robbery, grand larceny and auto theft — fell 1.8 percent compared to July 2017 to 8,500, putting the city on pace to end the year with fewer than 100,000 index crimes for only the second time ever, the NYPD said.

The two dozen murders last month marked a 36.8 percent drop from July 2017 and tied the record for the fewest killings in any July on record, the NYPD said.

The relatively low number of slayings brought the year-to-date murder total to 171, three fewer than at the same time last year, Pollock said. That's a positive change from the end of June, when murders were up 8.1 percent year to date.

Cops recorded 1,065 robberies last month, an all-time low for July that marks a 14.3 percent drop from last year, the NYPD said.

But last month's 143 rapes reflected a 7.5 percent increase from July 2017, marking the 11th straight month with a year-over-year increase in rapes. Police officials have attributed the spikes to increased reporting by survivors.

Just 12.5 percent of last month's rapes occurred before this year, Pollock said, a lower rate than police had seen in recent months.

"We still encourage people to come forward and report ones that are happening presently and ones that have happened in the past," Pollock said. "We want to know when those crimes are happening now obviously and we want to know who the offenders were before."

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