146 murders so far this year

Homicides and shootings are on the rise, including in Times Square, surprise knife attacks or beatings in the subway. Crime has skyrocketed in New York and has become a central issue in the campaign for the election of a new mayor to be decided at the end of June.

Some 505 people have been shot dead in America’s largest city so far this year, the highest number in a decade, according to police figures. 146 murders were recorded, compared to 104 in the same period of 2019 and 115 in 2020.

The rise in violence began in the summer of 2020, after the first months of lockdown due to the pandemic that left more than 30,000 dead in New York, when gun violence fell to its lowest level in six decades.

Experts say that confinement, unemployment and lack of activity largely explain these figures, far from the figures of the 80s and 90s, despite everything. while the city sometimes had around 2,000 homicides a year.

The metro was also the scene of violence. In the latest incidents, five people were stabbed, stabbed in the face or beaten on Friday in rail cars or stations.

“Violence is clearly on the rise … and the rise of 2020 is likely to continue until 2021,” John Pfaff, professor of criminal law at Fordham Law School, told AFP.

“The daily life that occupies people and keeps them away from crime is closed. There is enormous economic uncertainty, great emotional stress … All of this contributes to the violence, which is self-perpetuating. “, he added.

“Have you been on the subway? Because I was, and I was scared (…) I do not tell my daughter to take the metro, because I am afraid for my daughter, ”said Governor Andrew Cuomo, a rival of Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom he accuses of not fighting pretty tough on crime, although both are Democrats.

According to the NYPD, there has been at least 300 attacks in the metro this year against 380 at this point in 2020. But this year, due to the pandemic, there are three million fewer users.

Pat Foye, head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), in charge of the metro, ensures that “an immediate injection of police is necessary on the platforms and in the cars”.

But the mayor denies it, says the issue is politicized And remember that there are 600 other police officers who have been guarding the posts since February.

“The management of the MTA stirs up fear in people (…) I took the metro. So many people in my life use the metro all the time. They are extremely safe,” he said. a few days ago.

He assured that from May 17, when the metro will operate 24 hours a day again, as before the pandemic, more frequentation will bring more security.

On Saturday, May 8, two passers-by and a four-year-old girl were shot and wounded in the afternoon in Times Square for unknown reasons.

Various Democratic candidates for mayor like former President Andrew Yang, the President of Brooklyn and ex-cop Eric Adams or Raymond McGuire, a former Wall Street banker, immediately went to Times Square to pledge to improve security if they were elected .

The issue came to the fore during the New York mayor’s election campaign shortly after the Democratic primary on June 22. Elections must determine the winner of the November municipal electionbecause Republicans are extremely unpopular in New York.

And the question came back in the first (virtual) debate of the Democratic primary on Thursday evening.

“Police defeating is the wrong approach for New York City,” said Yang, a moderate.

“Security is not synonymous with the police”, said Dianne Morales, further to the left, after recalling that the NYPD is the main force in the country with 35,000 agents.

Some Republicans like Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson describe New York as an extremely dangerous city, but Democrats are calling for episodes of violence to be put into perspective.

Susan Kang, a professor at the John Jay College School of Criminal Justice, said the number of homicides and shootings was still low, even though they were on the rise.

“I still think it’s pretty safe to live in New York (…) I don’t hear anyone around me saying ‘I don’t feel safe’. There is a political attempt to guide the discussion“, he claimed.

Source: AFP

PB