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Shootings Continue to Spike in Central and East Brooklyn

Brownsville, East New York, Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy have seen a 28 percent increase in shootings, according to new NYPD data
73rd Precinct, BK Reader
The 73rd Precinct in Brownsville. Photo: Google Map

Brooklyn continues to see a surge in shootings, and it's increasingly affecting innocent bystanders in neighborhoods like Brownsville, East New York, Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, reports amNY. 

Overall, the city experienced a 7.1 percent increase in shooting -- from 337 to 361 --  over the same period in 2018, according to the latest NYPD data. The number of shooting victims increased thereby just slightly to 414 from 411. In Brooklyn North Precincts, however,  shootings have spiked to 101 from 79, which means a nearly 28 percent increase from the previous year. 

"Whether it is a gang investigation, a crew investigation, other methods of intervention, that is what we are looking at; the problem continues to be driven by gangs and crews," said Commissioner James O'Neill at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Four Brooklyn North precincts -- Brownsville's 73rd, East New York's 75th, Crown Heights' 77th and Bed-Stuy's 79th — account for 23 percent of all shootings to date, recent statistics reveal.

The uptick in shootings run counter to the overall decrease in violent crimes, officials emphasized. And while shootings have increased, homicides have decreased by 13.5 percent, to 135 from 156 in 2018.

Yet, shootings have continued to increase since the beginning of 2019, which prompted NYPD officials in March to send more officers to several Brooklyn precincts, including the 79th. And just last month, the NYPD launched its "Summer All-Out" campaign which deploys additional cops to high crime areas during the summer months. This year, officers were dispatched to the 67th, 73rd, 75th and 79th Precinct.

During last year's Summer All-Out, the city experienced a 16 percent reduction in shootings and a 36 percent decrease in murders, officials said.

In response to the continues inrease of shootings, Chief of Department Terence Monahan said on Tuesday that gang arrests were imminent, and officers are focused on making arrests particularly in cases of innocent bystanders being wounded.




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