Murders and shootings dropped in New York City in 2023 — but the number of assaults continue a troubling upward trend, according to a year-end review of NYPD data.
Overall crime in the five boroughs squeaked through the year on a high note — down .5% through Dec. 24 when compared to the same period last year, NYPD data show.
Murders declined 11%, with 380 so far this year compared to 429 in 2022.
Shootings plunged 24%, with 967 so far this year vs. 1,277 in the same span last year.
Assaults, however, ticked up 6% — to 27,299 from 25,745; while car thefts surged 15% to 15,503 from 13,430, the data through Dec. 24 show.
Retired NYPD Detective Michael Alcazar, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the growing population of homeless mentally ill people on the street could partly explain the continued upward assault trend.
“They’re in the subway system, they’re walking around in streets, and they’re not getting treatment,” he said. “They call us for everything, when really this person should be checked into the hospital.”
Retired Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, also an adjunct at John Jay, warned that overall major crime for the year is up 22.9% when compared to 2021.
“The two-year trend overall we’re almost up 23 percent. . . . so we’re like somewhere in the early 2000s when it comes to crime,” he said.
“If the mayor or anybody says to you we’re down in crime, it’s nonsense because the current trend is up . . . this is nothing to celebrate.”
The rise in felony assaults is particularly troubling, as the crime includes attempted murder cases such as the two teenage girls from Paraguay who were stabbed by unhinged Steven Hutcherson, 36, in Grand Central Station on Christmas.
“These two kids who got stabbed could’ve easily been homicides and not felony assaults,” Giacalone said. “He was charged with attempted murder but that’s just a felony assault, so people have to be mindful that these things can very easily turn into homicides.”
Experts and former cops agreed car thefts, which saw the highest year-to-date increase of all major crimes, will continue to spike.
“That’s up because we don’t have enough units to investigate chop shops,” said Alcazar. “There’s money to be made and that’s why it’s still prevalent — the chop shops are entertaining the bad guys breaking into cars.”
Retired NYPD Sgt. Pete Panuccio suggested cops are shying away from traffic stops, which could lead to solving a stolen vehicle case.
“Every car stop now turns into a major confrontation with police officers so they’re going to turn their blinders on unless it’s totally outrageous because nobody wants to deal with lawsuits,” he said.
Panuccio was heartened to see that shooting incidents and shooting victims were down by roughly 24% and 26% each this year compared to last.
“That would give an indication that people are thinking twice about carrying guns,” he said.
“Something is moving in the right direction.”
