Brooklyn has continued to make gains in public safety during 2022, said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a recent announcement. Homicides are declining by 8% and shootings are decreasing by 13% compared to 2021.
These trends amount to a reversal of the spike in gun violence during the height of the pandemic in 2020 -- shootings in Brooklyn dropped by 31% over the past two years, representing over 83% of the citywide decline during that period.
Similarly, the number of shooting victims declined by 33%, accounting for over 83% of the citywide decrease, and murders went down by 21%, making up a whopping 88% of the citywide decline in the past two years.
“I am happy to report that public safety in Brooklyn continued to improve over the past year, as we rebound from the spike in violence that we experienced during 2020," Gonzalez said.
"The significant declines in murders and shootings in our borough are driving the citywide gains against gun violence and are a testament to the hard work and focused approach by my Office, the NYPD and all of our partners."
However, index crimes in Brooklyn rose by about 21% in 2022, these include murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand theft auto.
"We still have work to do as we pledge to drive down gun crimes even further and contend with upticks in other crime categories, but I am confident that we are on the right track. I remain committed to targeting the most violent individuals and to growing our partnerships with community-based groups, violence interrupters and others who are engaged in preventative strategies,” Gonzalez said.
Though, Brooklyn has seen better trends than New York City as a whole: While the most populous borough, it wasn’t the leading contributor in any of those crime categories when compared to the four other boroughs, and the percentage increase was the second smallest among the five boroughs.
The most notable drops in homicide in Brooklyn over the past year took place in Coney Island, East Flatbush, Midwood, Bushwick and Fort Greene, with all of those neighborhoods experiencing a 50% decrease or more.
