Park Slope's Crime Doubles In 2023's First Weeks: NYPD

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Major crime in Park Slope's traditionally sleepy police precinct nearly doubled as 2023 dawned compared to the same weeks last year, new data shows.

Cops at the 78th Precinct logged 99 complaints of major felonies so far this year, according to crime statistics released Monday. They had 50 complaints during the same early weeks of 2022, data shows.

The increase was largely driven by a sharp rise in grand larceny complaints, which totaled 62 compared to 29 last year, according to the data.

Grand larcenies — which are mostly large-dollar shoplifting complaints — have been a rising issue citywide in the past year, said Michael LiPetri, the NYPD's chief of crime control strategies, at a recent news conference.

"We've made steady progress, and we will continue to make steady progress," he said.

Shoplifting, burglaries and robberies in Park Slope received attention after a Jan. 8 smash-and-grab robbery at Facets jewelry store along Seventh Avenue. A trio of robbers grabbed $2 million in jewels, the New York Post first reported.

The Post then interviewed some neighborhood shop owners who, in the tabloid's words, were "terrorized" by increasingly brazen criminals. The stories attempted to draw a link between the state's new bail laws and repeat offenders going back on the street after arrests to pilfer more property — as did LiPetri.

But a rise in shoplifting appears to be a national problem beyond New York and its bail laws.

Retailers across the country reported increases in organized retail crime incidents during the coronavirus pandemic, Forbes reported.

Other data indicates that shoplifting may not actually have much of an impact on stores. A review of a retail industry data shows "shrink" — or stores' merchandise losses — has effectively remained flat for more than a decade, CNN reported.