New York City’s all-time record low shootings and gun violence milestone revealed this week is no accident.
The NYPD and city officials, along with crime experts, agreed that a combination of efforts — including cracking down on gangs and illegal guns and zeroing in on high-crime areas — led to the Big Apple’s achievement.
Christopher Herrmann, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, noted the good news for New York is also part of a nationwide reversal of the rise in violent crimes seen across the US during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re in a good spot,” Herrmann, a former NYPD crime analyst supervisor, told The Post Tuesday.
“I don’t think one person can pat themselves on the back,” he added, pointing out “there are so many factors” that contributed to the downward trend.
Here are some of the main factors cited by experts and police officials:
Gang takedowns
The Big Apple has seen a record number of gang busts this year.
So far, there have been 48 gang-related takedowns, with 347 gang members arrested and 236 illegal guns recovered, police officials said.
“The more guns we take off the street, the more gun arrests we do, the less guns we see, the less shooting at citizen street victims,” an NYPD spokesperson said.
“These are going directly after the folks who we know are driving violence.”
Progressive City Council members, however, have pushed a bill to abolish the NYPD’s gang database, arguing that in general it stigmatize minorities and ensnare innocent people simply because of the color their skin.
But a law-enforcement source argued the drop in gun violence proves the database’s value.
“This is a great example of success when we use the proper tools like the gang database to hone in on the actual violent criminals instead of just casting a wide net and hoping something sticks,” the source said.
Illegal gun seizures
NYPD officers have taken nearly 3,200 illegal guns off the streets so far this year, police officials said.
“You can’t have shooters if people don’t have guns,” Mayor Eric Adams said Monday in an event highlighting the crime statistics.
Roughly 23,000 guns have been taken off the street since Adams took office.
Data and precision policing
Like tempers, gun violence flares during the hot summer months — but not so far this year.
NYPD officials credit “precision policing” — essentially, following data and flooding high-crime areas with cops — with keeping blood off the streets.
Shootings have gone down more than 50% in 70 different areas that the NYPD has designated as “summer zones” since May 5, officials said.
“Our summer violence reduction zones are emblematic of our precision policing model,” an NYPD spokesperson said.
“Where we see there are areas of high shootings, that’s where we deploy our summer violence reduction zones.”
