NYC ‘24 Crime Stats Show Overall Crime & Murders Down, Rapes & Felony Assault Rise
There was a “nearly 3 percent reduction” in overall reported crime incidents in 2024 with murder decliningby 3.6 percent but rapes were up 18.9 percent, and felony assaults up 5 percent. Mayor Eric Adams said that there is still a “perception problem” with some people “feeling unsafe.”
Overall crime incidents dipped by nearly 3 percent across NYC in 2024, according to the NYPD, although some key categories saw spikes. Murders were down by 3.6 percent, with shootings plummeting by 15.3 percent. Grand larceny auto incidents, which have been high in recent years, also dipped by 10.3 percent. Yet reported rapes increased by a significant 18.9 percent, while felony assaults rose by 5 percent.
Reported crime incidents in the NYC subway system declined for the second year in a row, at a 5.4 percent reduction. Crime incidents at public housing complexes also dipped by 4.5 percent, a reversal of an increase in that same category at the end of 2023.
Another positive note involved the Dec. 2024 year-over-year crime stats, with overall index crimes decreasing by 15.3 percent compared to the same month in 2023. This was the largest one-month year-over-year decrease since Feb. 2021, the NYPD said.
At his weekly press avail on Tuesday, Jan. 7, NYC Mayor Eric Adams began by hailing some of the decreases: “We’re moving in a direction that we believe we should be moving in. And we reduced homicides and shootings for the third straight year.”
However, he went on to note that there is a “perception problem” with crime that leads some New Yorkers to feel “unsafe,” despite a genuine reduction in certain violent incidents. He went on to gesture at a few random high-profile crimes that occurred in the transit system last year, some of which were committed by people dealing with severe mental illness.
“I mean, a burning of someone on the subway system, shoving on the subway track, a slashing, being punched, when you read that stuff, or you’re in the subway system, you see someone yelling and screaming, walking down the tracks, you don’t want to hear about the numbers only,” he added. “The numbers are not just the answer. We must match the numbers with the perception and feeling safe in the system.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said as much in a statement accompanying the yearly figures: ”While there were thousands fewer victims of major crimes—including shootings, murders, robberies, and other violent acts—in 2024, there is still much more work to be done to keep New Yorkers safe, to make them feel safe, and to improve their overall quality of life in the year ahead.”
At the Jan. 7 presser, Adams said that his administration had taken steps—unrelated to police work—that he hopes will have an effect on the “symbolic” perception of random violent crimes in New York City: restoring public hospital psychiatric beds, doubling outreach staffing at the Department of Homeless Services, and putting 1,400 new Safe Haven shelter beds “online.”
It’s further unsurprising that the reduction in shootings was emphasized by Adams and the NYPD, considering that it’s reportedly been a high priority for his administration. The NYPD specified that it has a “laser-like” focus on illegal guns, such as ghost guns. In addition to the dip in incidents, the authorities touted 4,041 arrests in connection with illegal gun possession, as well as 6,150 illegal firearms seized by the NYPD.