Shootings are up in New York City and Queens is no exception.
According to data released by the NYPD last week, the number of shooting incidents and shooting victims were up boroughwide in 2020. Murder, which includes incidents not involving a gun, was up as well.
This increase follows a nation wide trend. Shootings and murders in major cities are at levels that haven’t been seen in decades.
The NYPD divides the borough into two sectors – Queens North and Queens South. Queens North and Queens South are made up of eight precincts each.
The data covers the time period leading up to December 27, 2020.
Queens South saw the greatest increase in shootings and shooting victims in the borough with increases of more than a whopping 110%.
Last year, 211 people were shot during 172 incidents compared to 99 people during 81 incidents during the previous year. That’s a 113% increase in shooting victims and a 112% increase in incidents.
Murder, however, was only up 4.5% with 46 people killed compared to 44 the previous year.
Queens North also saw a dramatic increase but by not nearly as much.
There were 80 shooting victims from 64 shooting incidents compared to 49 victims from 44 incidents in the same time period in 2019 in Queens North. That’s a 45.5% increase in incidents and more than a 60% increase in incidents.
Murders increased as well and at a higher rate than in Queens South. There was a 12% increase in murders in Queens North with 28 people killed compared to 25 in the same time period in 2019.
Both Queens North and Queens South saw a surge in auto crimes. In Queens North, Grand larceny auto increased by more than 66% with 1,230 cars stolen this past year compared to 740 in 2019. In Queens South, car theft increased by 58% with 1,224 cars stolen compared to 774.
Burglary was up nearly 50% in Queens North with 1,924 burglaries committed compared to 1,305 in the same time period in 2019. Queens South also experienced an increase but less so with 13% more burglaries.
Instances of rape and hate crimes were also down borough wide. Queens North had the largest decrease with rape down by 35% and hate crimes down by nearly 50%. Meanwhile, in Queens South, rape decreased by 18.5% and hate crimes had a slight decrease of just over 4%.
Grand larceny was down boroughwide while robberies were slightly up. Meanwhile, felonious assault remained nearly the same with Queens North experiencing a 1% uptick and Queens South a 1% decrease.
To see crime statistics for your specific precinct, go to the NYPD’s website.
