No Kidding: Crime Up Sharply in NYC for Month of January

New York – Crime rates in the nation’s safest big city took a deep flight as 2020 got underway. And officials are blaming it on the progressive new law yanking bail options from judges.

New NYPD statistics released Tuesday shows New York City’s most violent offenders were particularly active in the month of January, compared to the same time period as last year.

Five of the seven major crime categories  were surging as of Sunday. There was a 27 percent increase in shooting incidents,  while the number of victims grew by 40 percent. Robberies rose by nearly 35 percent, burglaries by about 18 percent, grand larcenies by over 10 percent and felony assaults by 9 percent.

The sharpest hike came in the number of cars stolen. Auto theft is up 70 percent so far this year, or about 20 a day.

The only two crime categories that dipped were murder and assaults on women, which both were down by about 18 percent.

Police placed the blame for the uptick squarely on the new Democratic majority in Albany, which last year took away a judge’s discretion whether to grant bail to defendants, regardless of their violence or record on not showing up for court dates. That law took effect January 1, just when the rise in crime began.

“If you let out individuals that commit a lot of crime,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said last week, “that’s precision policing in reverse and we’re seeing the effects in a very quick time, and that is why we’re so concerned.”

There is a push to amend the law to allow judges to hold defendants who are considered violent. But so far, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said they are not budging.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and Shea will be holding a press conference at 1 p.m. on Tuesday regarding the crime statistics.