Crime In Brooklyn On Pace For 'Record Low' In 2017, DA Says

BROOKLYN, NY — Crime in Brooklyn is on pace for record low numbers in 2017, according to the district attorney's office.

Through the first half of the year, there were "major declines" in crime compared to the same time in 2016, which was the safest year on record for the borough, the D.A.'s office said.

That decrease includes "double-digit drops in shooting incidents, shooting victims and homicides" through the end of June 2017, according to the D.A.'s office.

"I am very proud that crime has continued to plummet so rapidly in Brooklyn, a trend that shows that the targeted approach employed by the NYPD and my Office in fighting violent crime is working," Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a press release.

"It is also proof that we can implement criminal justice reforms while still enhancing public safety. We have launched innovative new programs to reduce reliance on bail, to protect immigrants and to divert low-level offenders from incarceration as we continue to drive down violence and improve the quality of life in all parts of Brooklyn."

Gonzalez took over as acting district attorney in October 2016, following the death of Ken Thompson, who was known as one of the most progressive district attorneys in the country. Gonzalez is running for the post in the city's 2017 elections.

Among the drop in Brooklyn crime touted by Gonzalez's office:

• The 50 murders so far in 2017 are a decrease of 11 (18 percent) from last year and are on track for the fewest in Brooklyn history, a record set in 2014 with 122.
• The number of "shooting incidents" is down 32 compared to this time last year (a total of 136, down 19.2 percent).
• There have been 48 fewer shooting victims (a total of 155, down 23.7 percent) compared to the same time period last year
• Brooklyn is the only borough in the city that has seen decreases in all three of those categories so far this year.
• The "Total Crime Index," which tracks seven major felony crimes, is down 4.5 percent in Brooklyn in 2017.
• Six of the seven categories have declined so far this year, with rape being the exception. Two additional rapes have been reported in Brooklyn so far this year compared to the same time last year, a .9 percent increase from last year.

"Together with the focus on violent crime, the DA’s Office has been implementing numerous criminal justice reforms, including a change in its bail policy under which no bail is requested for nearly all misdemeanors and a new policy to protect non-citizen defendants by considering collateral immigration consequences of convictions with the assistance of two newly-hired immigration attorneys," the D.A.'s office said in its press release.

"The Office also previously announced that it will soon launch a program to allow certain drug-dependent defendants to be sent to treatment in lieu of prosecution, an innovative approach that will keep these offenders from ever setting foot in a courtroom and provide them with necessary help."

Image: Patch file photo