Number Of Homicides In 70th Precinct Highest Since 2003; Overall Felonies Lowest In 15 Years

After the shooting early last Wednesday morning, which marks the 12th homicide of the year for the 70th Precinct, we were interested in understanding how this number compares to years past and the overall crime rate of our neighborhood. Based on the Historical Crime Data provided by the city and the most recent Crime Stat for the 70th Precinct, we created graphs to help visualize the numbers.Above is a graph for the number of homicides per year reported by the 70th Precinct since 2000. The year with the highest number of homicides in the last 15 is 2002, when there were 19 homicides reported in the 70th Precinct. Last year had the lowest recorded number of homicides with only three. This year so far we’ve had 12, which makes it the highest year since 2003, when there were 17 reported homicides.But how do homicides relate to the overall number of major felonies in the area? Below is a graph representing the number of major felonies reported in the 70th Precinct since 2000. Major felonies as defined by the NYPD include seven major crimes: Murder & Non-negligible Manslaughter, Rape, Robbery, Felony Assault, Burglary, Grand Larceny, and Grand Larceny of a Motor Vehicle.

As is apparent in the graph, major felonies in the area have continuously declined since 2000 when the number of felonies recorded by the 70th precinct was nearly 4,500. For 2015 so far, there have been 1,253 felonies recorded. That number is not final because we still have two full months left of the year, but it is 8 percent lower than the number of felonies this time last year, according to the 70th Precinct Crime Stat.What do you think of these numbers? What do these trends mean to you?