NYC murders, shootings fall to lowest levels in 3 decades, NYPD says
Last month was also the safest May the city has ever seen, with shootings and homicides not this low in May since the CompStat era began in 1994, Tisch said.
'The NYPD's work in May was exceptional and the results were historic, making 2025 so far the safest year on record for both shootings and murders,' Tisch said at City Hall with Mayor Eric Adams while surrounded by some of the 22,000 firearms seized by police over the last three and a half years.
According to NYPD statistics, there were 54 shootings and 18 murders in May, a new record low. The month — which also boasted the safest Memorial Day weekend on record in the CompStat era — capped off a successful five straight months of declines in violence. (CompStat refers to 'computer statistics.')
Through May 31, cops had investigated 112 murders, a 28% drop from last year, with 44 fewer killings. Cops also recorded 264 shootings, 70 fewer than this time last year, or a drop of about 20%
Murders and shootings so far this year have been lower than pre-pandemic levels. The previous record low for murders in the first five months of the year was in both 2014 and 2017, when cops investigated 113 killings each year. The previous record low for shootings was in 2018, when cops investigated 267.
'We've promised to eradicate gun violence and we are working on that promise,' Adams said.
Tisch credited the huge crime drops in May to the NYPD's Summer Violence Reduction Plan. Beginning on May 5, the NYPD identified 70 high-crime areas in 57 precincts throughout the city and flooded those areas with more than 1,500 uniformed officers at the times the violence occurs.
As a result, crime in the zones during the times additional cops were added has fallen by 28%, Tisch said. Shootings in those areas are down by 65%, with some traditionally crime-prone precincts — like the 44th Precinct in the Bronx, where Yankee Stadium stands — not seeing a single shooting in May.
'Our bold, aggressive, data-driven, summer-reduction plan focuses every single day on one thing — public safety,' Tisch said. 'Our scalpel approach to crime fighting works.'
As of June 1, overall crime in the city had fallen by 6%, from 50,349 felony crimes this time last year to 47,258, officials said.
The only crime category to see an uptick was in rapes, which jumped by 27%, up from 645 incidents reported last year to 820. The NYPD said this year's rise is in part attributed to legislative changes made last September that broadened the legal definition of rape in New York state, which now includes additional forms of sexual assault.
___
© 2025 New York Daily News.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
10 hours ago
- New York Post
Drone allows Mayor Adams real time, bird's eye view of NYC emergencies
He's watching over Gotham. Mayor Adams has been tapping into NYPD drone footage to get an immediate assessment during the city's most critical emergencies, officials told The Post. 'I can send him a link upon his request to be able to see in real time what's happening on the ground,' Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Kaz Daughtry said of Adams, the first NYC mayor to have this access. 'Remember, he was a police officer. He doesn't want to get updates on the phone. He wants to get them in real time.' 6 Mayor Adams got a link to live feed from the shooting at 345 Park Avenue in Midtown while he was in his car. Andrew Schwartz / The mayor was watching the NYPD's response to 345 Park Ave., after gunman Shane Tamura, 27, walked across the outdoor plaza wielding an AR-15-style rifle and murdered four people inside before killing himself, Daughtry said. When he saw how dire the situation was, he got there as fast as he could, Daughtry said. 'I spoke to him several times during that whole incident,' Daughtry said, explaining he told the mayor the NYPD called a level three mobilization. 6 Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry sends teh mayor a link when there's a large incident or event he needs to know about. Leonardo Munoz 'We're calling for resources from all over the city to respond because this is an active shooter situation,' Daughtry said, explaining the level three. 'We immediately deployed the drone. They're part of that mobilization.' Adams watched the video from his car and saw people running out of the building with their hands up. 'He was like, 'I can't believe this is happening in our city,'' Daughtry recalled. 6 The mayor tapped into the drone feed to monitor a recent large protest in Manhattan. Michael Nigro 'Now, as NYPD officers are running into a building you've got folks running out with their hands up. I think that made him respond to the scene faster.' In April, the mayor watched rescue efforts from above after a helicopter carrying a Spanish family on a sightseeing tour plummeted into the Hudson River. 'Immediately he says 'Is everyone OK?' Daughtry recalled. 'Do we have our drones up yet can you please send me a link?'' 6 Shooter Shane Tamura killed four people inside the building before fatally shooting himself. AP Adams watched as the family of five and pilot were being pulled out of the water, saw efforts to resuscitate them with CPR, and rushed to the scene. 'I told him, 'We're pulling out victims now and it's not looking good,'' Daughtry recalled. 'If he wants to see the drones, he can look real time and he can make decisions from his vehicle,' Daughtry said. 'That's only for high profile incidents. There's got to be something that rises to the magnitude where we're notifying the mayor in real time.' 6 The mayor is able to access the drone feed during large incidents. Leonardo Munoz Daughtry has been a staunch cheerleader for the NYPD's drone program since it started in 2019. The department uses the unmanned aerial vehicles for everything from crimefighting, to search and rescue and disaster response. The NYPD has about 100 drones at its command and an equal number of police officers who are certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to fly them. In 2024, the NYPD started its Drone as a First Responder (DFR) program, which deploys the unmanned aerial vehicles on 911 calls to get an overview of the scene and improve situational awareness for cops. 6 The mayor also got a link to watch rescue efforts after a helicopter crahed into the Hudson River in April. Bruce Wall The department also uses drones to locate and rescue swimmers in distress off the city's beaches — along with the FDNY — and detect illegal activities, such as subway surfing. Civil libertarians have cried foul, arguing the video surveillance violates privacy rights. 'The drones are a force multiplier and they just add a real time sense of what's going on,' he said. 'People said it would not work and it is working here.' The Adams administration pointed out that shootings and shooting victims are at historic lows in the city because of efforts to take guns off the street, gang takedowns and precision policing. 'As technology evolves, we are evolving with it — and drones have become a critical crime-fighting tool that helps our officers do exactly that,' Adams said in a statement. 'Real-time camera access for our senior leadership during emergencies or mass protests allows us to keep communities safe and respond to active incidents faster.'
New York Post
12 hours ago
- New York Post
Daughter follows in police officer dad's NYPD footsteps
She's a true blue blood. Ashley Jimenez had a sense of duty when she threw her cap into the air at Madison Square Garden at NYPD graduation on Aug. 6: following in the footsteps of her NYPD detective dad. Det. Manuel Jimenez, a 10-year veteran NYPD police officer from the Dominican Republic worked undercover to bust up heroin rings in the 1990s, and died of stomach cancer in 2001. Ashley was just 9 at the time. Advertisement 'It was something that was a bit confusing just because as a 9-year-old you really don't understand death or grief,' said the newly-minted police officer. 4 Det. Manuel Jimenez, a 10-year-year NYPD veteran, died in 2001 when his daughter was 9. Obtained by the New York Post 'On the flip side, it was also a very tender and loving process because I got to see how loved my dad was,' she said. 'There were always a lot of friends and family in the house, a lot of people from the NYPD, detective friends.' Advertisement Jimenez always had a law enforcement career in the back of her mind, but she went to the New York Institute of Technology and majored in radio and television. After graduation, she moved to California and worked for outlets such as 'E! News' and NBC's 'Today' show, she said. When she reached 32 — the same age her father was when he died — she decided it was time to go home and follow in his footsteps. 'When I moved back, I was like 'I want to take the police exam,'' she said, adding that she missed the Big Apple. Advertisement 'I took the police exam and didn't tell anyone about it,' said Jimenez, whose brother Antonio is an NYPD captain. 'It was something that I decided to do. It's in my blood.' 4 Ashley Jimenez graduated from the Police Academy and is now an officer in the city. Obtained by the New York Post She also wanted to join the NYPD to help change the negative narrative she hears too often about police officers, she said. 'This is a calling,' she said. 'I really hope to come into communities and connect with them and remind them that we're here to help, not to harm' Advertisement Her big brother Antonio, 37, was surprised at first when she told him she wanted to join the Finest, he said. 4 Ashley's older brother, Antonio, also followed in their father's footsteps and is an NYPD captain. Helayne Seidman 4 Police Officer Jimenez hopes to help improve the public's perception of cops, she said. Helayne Seidman 'I think it's a full circle moment,' said Antonio, who works in Patrol Borough Brooklyn North. 'I helped raise her when we lost my dad.' His sister now wears his father's shield number, 14733. 'I remember wearing that shield when I was 5 or 6 years old,' he said. 'Now my sister has it.' Their dad would be 'extremely proud' of Ashley if he were alive today, Antonio said. 'When I looked at my sister in uniform I saw my dad,' the proud brother said. 'I even teared up.'
New York Post
12 hours ago
- New York Post
Detective 'traumatized' by NYPD officer's murder, source says
An NYPD detective who was working security near the Park Avenue building where a madman killed four people had her reputation dragged through the mud in the aftermath of the slaughter. Online rumor mongers claimed Det. Shareka Henry fled the scene when bullets were flying, police sources said. At the time, Henry, 39, was working for a private security firm that covers 345 Park Ave. and 601 Lexington Ave, which is a block away. 6 Shane Tamura walked into 345 Park Avenue with an AR-15 assault style weapon and murdered four people. Obtained by NY Post She was at the Lexington Avenue building when Shane Tamura marched into 345 Park. with an AR-15 style assault weapon and opened fire. The victims included Henry' Brother in Blue, Det. Didarul Islam. 'She saw Officer Islam being carried out,' a source involved in the investigation said. 'She had seen him an hour earlier and got him an iced tea from Starbucks. It was still there at the scene.' Online, the rumors reached a crescendo a couple weeks after the shooting. 6 Workers who were inside 345 Park Avenue barricaded themselves inside offices. 6 NYPD Officer Didarul Islam, a father, was killed in the shooting. NYPD 'Armed NYPD Detective Shereka Henry observed the mass shooter approaching … with his long gun … and ran, hid, told no one,' read a post on a private Facebook group for cops that was shared with The Post. It wasn't clear who made the post from the copy that was being circulated. The rumors of her leaving the scene were so persistent NYPD brass brought her in for questioning last Wednesday, police sources said. 6 Authorities believed Tamura was angry at the NFL over the brain disease CTE that he believed he had. AP Investigators reviewed the NYPD's Argus security cameras and body-worn camera footage from officers at the scene and saw that Henry ran to the scene not from it, the source said. 'They have her on the plaza, but SRG (Strategic Response Group) and MTN (Midtown North Precinct) officers were telling everyone to stay back,' the source said. 'You see her on body worn camera talking to cops.' She's also seen helping men and women who were being evacuated from the building while holding their hands up, the source said. 6 Workers from the Park Avenue building were evacuated. Obtained by the NY Post Internal Affairs discovered she was working the security gig for a firm hired by Blackstone Group LP, a public investment firm, without proper NYPD paperwork, so she was transferred from the Intelligence Bureau to a Bronx precinct's detective squad. That also fueled the 'rumors and false information' that was 'posted as fact' on social media, the source said. 'She definitely didn't run from it,' the source said. 'She ran to it. She's traumatized.' 6 Tamura had a license from Las Vegas to carry a conceled weapon. Obtained by the NY Post Henry recently was in the news when she was punched in the head while fighting a crazed man at a Midtown Starbucks after he was seen hurling products around the store, police sources said. Henry could not be reached for comment. 'How many people are these rumor mongers going to throw under the bus?' a representative for the Detectives Endowment Association said.
