Crime Overview

Reduction in Crime

There is no question that violent crime has decreased sharply since 1990. In 2006 homicides remained near the historically low level they have been for the past few years. Other violent crimes, such as rape and assault, continued to drop, contributing to a 72% decrease in violent crime since 1990.

In 2006 crime complaints for index crimes again decreased -- 4% from 2005. Rape and burglary complaints each declined by 7%. The largest decrease (16%) was in grand larceny auto, contributing to as 85% decrease since 1990.

Since 1990 the number of homicides in the Bronx has been reduced by 77%, from 653 in 1990 to 153 in 2006. For each of the past ten years, there have been fewer than 200 homicides in the Bronx. The number of homicides remain at levels not seen since the 1960s.

Overall violent crime in the Bronx decreased every year between 1994 and 2006. In 2006, violent crime was 1% lower than in 2005 and 72% lower than in 1990. During the same period, arrests in the Bronx increased by 64%. Despite decreases in crime, increasing arrests and diminishing resources create significant caseloads.

Bronx County’s Higher Proportion of Citywide Violent Crime

Although crime decreased in 2006 by more than 4% from 2005, some of the statistics are not so positive The New York Times (September 29, 2006) reported, "Despite Continuing Decrease in Crime in the City, Troubling Signs Emerge." In the Bronx the most troubling of these is the spike in murders from 129 in 2005 to 153 in 2006.

In 2006 the Bronx experienced a disproportionately high incidence of crime in relation to its 16.6% share of the City's population. Since 1990 crime complaints across the seven categories reported by the NYPD (murder, rape, robbery, felonious assault, burglary, grand larceny and motor vehicle theft) have dropped in the Bronx and the rest of New York City. Even with the remarkable decreases in violent crime, however, are still very serious problems in the Bronx. In 2006, the 153 murders ion the bronx constituted 26% of the citywide total. Bronx shooting incidents represented 26% of such incidents citywide. Mora than one in four of the City's felony assaults and one in five of its rapes and robberies occurred in the Bronx, giving the county its highest incidence in New York City per 100,000 population of murder, rape, robbery and felonious assault. We are particularly concerned that in 2006 the number of shooting incidents in the Bronx rose another 2.5% after a 17.8 increase in 2005. There is no question that we have made great strides in fighting crime, but work remains to be done.

Prosecuting Crime

The Bronx District Attorney’s Office prosecuted 5,950 felony-level defendants in 2006, a 3% increase over the 5,768 defendants prosecuted in 2005. Narcotics cases accounted for close to half the felony prosecutions in Bronx County.

In each of the past 16 years, this Office sent a higher proportion of convicted felons to state prison than the statewide average.