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In 2012, there were 451,142 crimes reported in the U.S. state of New York, including 686 murders. In 2014, 409,386 crimes were reported in the state, including 616 murders. This number further decreased in 2019, in which 335,736 crimes were reported, with 558 cases of murder. Throughout 2010-2019, violent crime dropped by 8.0%, and property crime dropped by -29.0%.[1]

Crime in Yonkers

In 2000 The New York Times reported that there were at least 30 street gangs operating in Yonkers. Mexican immigrants have contributed to the rise of Mexican gangs in Yonkers. The largest Mexican gangs operating in Yonkers in 2000 were Chicano Nation, Aztec Pride, Vatos Locos and 13 Locos. A district attorney for Westchester County attributed the high levels of gang activity to strict law enforcement practices within the city limits of New York City. Gang units collected intelligence on gangs by photographing gang tags and passing the data on to graffiti cleanup crews.[2]

22 gang members were charged with narcotics and firearms offenses in 2012 in three federal indictments in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. United States v. Mark David et al charged the gang with intent to distribute crack cocaine and marijuana, and firearms charges related to that offense.[3][4] In 2016 the United States Department of Justice announced that Da'quan Johnson had been sentenced to 30 years for murder, racketeering and narcotics crimes that he committed as a member of street gang based in Yonkers.[5]

Gang violence was the source of over half the shootings in Yonkers in 2020. Shootings were up 60% in 2020 compared with the previous year, and gang related shootings were up 30%.[6] Mayor Mike Spano and the Yonkers Police Department announced that the rise of gang violence would be met with increased surveillance, law enforcement and collaboration with federal officials.[7]

Crime in New York City

Main article: Crime in New York City

Crime rates in New York City spiked over the post-war period as the city experienced white flight.[8] The highest crime totals were recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the crack epidemic surged,[9][10] and then dropped through the 1990s and 2000s.[11]

During the 1990s, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) adopted CompStat, broken windows policing, and other strategies in a major effort to reduce crime. The city's dramatic drop in crime has been variously attributed to a number of factors, including the end of the crack epidemic, the increased incarceration rate,[9][10] gentrification, an aging population, and the decline of lead poisoning in children.[12]

The boroughs of Queens and Staten Island have historically had lower crime rates compared to Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan. Since 1985, the Bronx has consistently had the highest murder and violent crime rate among the five boroughs.[13]

Since 2017, murders in the city have increased bucking the trend. Murders in New York City surged in 2020 by 47% to 468 from 319 the year prior, one of the most significant increases in the city's history, but still lower than any year between 1960 and 2011.[14] There were 488 murders in 2021, the highest total since 2011.


Policing

Further information: List of law enforcement agencies in New York

In 2008, the state of New York had 514 state and local law enforcement agencies.[15] Those agencies employed a total of 95,105 staff.[15] Of the total staff, 66,472 were sworn officers (defined as those with general arrest powers).[15]

In 2008, New York had 341 police officers per 100,000 residents.[15]

Capital punishment laws

Main article: Capital punishment in New York

Capital punishment is not applied in this state.,[16] but in the past it was. The last execution took place in 1963, when Eddie Mays was electrocuted at Sing Sing Prison. The state was the first to adopt the electric chair as a method of execution, which replaced hanging. Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling declaring existing capital punishment statutes unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia (1972), New York was without a death penalty until 1995, when then-Governor George Pataki signed a new statute into law, which provided for execution by lethal injection. In June 2004, the state's highest court ruled in People v. LaValle that the state's death penalty statute violated the state constitution,[17]

Human trafficking

Main article: Human trafficking in New York

New York has one of the highest rates of human trafficking in the country, partially due to its large immigrant population and status as a major port of entry. According to a 2011 Department of State report, New York, together with California, Texas, and Oklahoma, has the largest concentrations of survivors of human trafficking.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Index Crimes Reported to Police by Region: 2010-2019" (PDF). New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  2. ^ O'Connor, James (April 30, 2000). "Special Unit Quells Gangs in Yonkers". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges 22 Members of Violent Yonkers Gang with Narcotics Trafficking and Firearms Offenses". June 26, 2012.
  4. ^ "Strip Boyz Indictments" (PDF). Department of Justice. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Yonkers Gang Leader Sentenced To 30 Years In Prison For Murder, Racketeering, And Narcotics Crimes". DOJ. May 23, 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Yonkers Launches New Program To Keep Children From Getting Lured Into Gang-Related Crime". CBS. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Yonkers unveils anti-gang initiative amid spike in violence, shootings". ABC. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  8. ^ "217 years of homicide in New York". January 26, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Johnson, Bruce D.; Golub, Andrew; Eloise Dunlap (2006). "The Rise and Decline of Hard Drugs, Drug Markets, and Violence in Inner-City New York". In Blumstein, Alfred; Wallman, Joel (eds.). The Crime Drop in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86279-0.
  10. ^ a b Karmen, Andrew (2000). New York Murder Mystery: The True Story Behind the Crime Crash of the 1990s. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-4717-9.
  11. ^ Langan; Matthew R. Durose (December 3–5, 2003). "The Remarkable Drop in Crime in New York City". 2003 International Conference on Crime. Rome, Italy. Retrieved April 17, 2009.
  12. ^ Kevin Drum. "America's Real Criminal Element: Lead". Mother Jones. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  13. ^ "Homicide Rate by Borough – NYC – Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice". criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  14. ^ "Homicides Surged in NYC in 2020". December 29, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d "U.S. Department of Justice, Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies, 2008, p.15" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-10. Retrieved 2012-11-22.
  16. ^ "Facts about capital punishment - the death penalty".
  17. ^ Glaberson, William (25 June 2004). "4-3 Ruling Effectively Halts Death Penalty in New York". The New York Times. New York State's highest court ruled yesterday that a central provision of the state's capital punishment law violated the State Constitution.
  18. ^ Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in the United States (PDF), Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley, September 2004, ISBN 0-9760677-0-6, archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-30 (archived from the original Archived 2007-08-30 at the Wayback Machine on 2007-08-30)
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