NYC Shootings Hit Record August Low, But Crime Still Up 26%: NYPD

NEW YORK CITY — Crime overall rose 26 percent in New York City in August, despite a record-low number of shootings, according to newly released NYPD crime statistics.

Shootings hit the fourth-lowest level for August since the 1990s with 115 gun violence incidents, the statistics show.

The 30.3 percent drop in shootings compared to August last year was exceeded by a 54.2 percent decline in murders, which numbered 27 across the city, according to the data.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell pinned the dips on concentrated efforts to tamp down violent crime in the summer, including stepped up gun arrests.

"Our gun seizures and gun arrests in August – and the corresponding downturn in shooting incidents – indicate a positive corner turn in our fight to stop criminals willing to carry illegal guns and brazenly use them," she said in a statement.

But Sewell acknowledged more work needed to be done — a recognition borne out by the fact that five out of seven major crimes, except murders and rape, all saw increases.

Robberies, for example, rose 38 percent in August compared to the same point last year, according to the data.

Likewise, grand larceny and burglaries rose 34.7 percent and 31.1 percent, respectively, the data shows.

Arrests for major felonies so far this year are up 27.1 percent over the same months in 2021, according to the crime statistics.

But some places in New York City became notably less violent.

The Bronx had 28 shootings in August, a 46.2 percent decline from the same month last year, the data shows.

Shootings in southern Queens dropped to 14 during August, a 51.7 percent dip from the same point last year, according to the statistics.

“Any level of violence in New York City – or anywhere – is unacceptable,” said Kenneth Corey, the NYPD's chief of department, in a statement.

“We know that New York City is safer today than it was when we implemented our Summer Violence Reduction Plan in May."