Rape Reports Spike In NYC As #MeToo Movement Grows: NYPD

NEW YORK, NY — The #MeToo movement has emboldened more New Yorkers to report rapes in recent months even amid a historic decline in crime overall, a top NYPD official said Wednesday. Some 122 rapes were reported to police in February, up nearly 39 percent from 88 in the same month last year, the NYPD said.

Not all of them were recent — about a third happened before this year, a higher amount than usual, said Chief Dermot Shea, the NYPD's head of crime control strategies. Several occurred over five years ago, he said.

February was the sixth straight month in which the city saw an increase in rape reports, Shea said. After a slight uptick in September, police saw a big spike starting in October after news reports about Harvey Weinstein's alleged sexual harassment, abuse and rape of several women led to the move mogul's downfall.

"I am of the opinion that these incidents were happening before, it's just not reported," Shea said.

The increase is at least partly related to a nascent movement encouraging survivors of sexual harassment and assault to come forward with stories about what happened to them, Shea said.

The so-called #MeToo effort has led to revelations of alleged misconduct by dozens of politicians, entrepreneurs, media personalities and others.

"Everything seems to point towards more people coming forward," Shea said.

Nearly all the people who have reported rapes so far this year knew the person who allegedly attacked them. Some 56 percent of the crimes were classified as "acquaintance rapes" and 38 percent were "domestic rapes," Shea said. The remaining 6 percent were "stranger rapes."

Rapes continued to climb last month even as the city saw crime overall continue to drop to levels not seen in decades, police officials said. Overall, the seven most serious crimes — murder, rape, grand larceny, felony assault, robbery, burglary and car thefts — dropped 1.6 percent in February compared to the same month a year ago, Shea said.

The city saw just 14 murders last month, down 36 percent from 22 a year ago. The number of shootings fell slightly to 37 from 40 last year. There were 3,108 grand larcenies last month, a 2 percent increase from last year driven by shoplifting, vehicle break-ins and reproduced checks, Shea said.

The NYPD has been pursuing Weinstein himself since the actress Paz De La Huerta told police in the fall that he raped her twice in 2010. The Police Department has handed the case to Manhattan prosecutors and has several people ready to go before a grand jury, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.

"It’s going very, very well," Boyce said. "We have a lot of information."

The probe is now in Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s hands, Boyce said. Vance's office declined to comment on where it stands. Weinstein has reportedly denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of consecutive months in which rape reports increased. It is six.

(Lead image: Protesters march at a #MeToo rally in London in January 2018. Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)