This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated April 2, 2021
As reported here in this paper on March 29, at the 68th Precinct’s monthly community council meeting, Capt. Tolson reported that crime was down in every major category, year to date. Across Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights, crime has decreased 27.65 percent in the past month. Tolson went on to say, “Crime is at an all-time low here. We haven’t seen numbers like this in years.”
Publicly available statistics bear out exactly what Tolson stated. As in every metropolitan area in the country, during the sudden economic strife brought on by the pandemic, there were increases in crime rates last year, but the decreases we are seeing now are not just reductions compared to 2020’s increases. They are all-time lows, and this is the case across Southern Brooklyn.
Figures for the 61st, 62nd, and 63rd Precincts, which cover Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay, and Marine Park, show that crime is down year-to-date in these areas, as well. In each of the four precincts noted above, crime rates are less than half what they were in 2001.
You would not know any of this if you only listened to some who are singularly focused on opposing local, Democratic elected officials. In fact, if they were your only source of information, you would be under the impression crime is out of control to a degree we have not seen in decades. The opposite is true.
People with differing political philosophies will disagree on issues and they always have plenty of opportunities to criticize politicians from the opposite party on matters in which they hold a contrary view, but inventing alternative facts to attack a councilman or state legislator with, is not constructive. It seems those who do this with crime, are rooting for bad things to happen in the neighborhood.
“The facts regarding low crime rates are just that: facts. These figures are not some politician’s interpretation. They come directly from the NYPD.”
The facts regarding low crime rates are just that: facts. These figures are not some politician’s interpretation. They come directly from the NYPD. The police officials touting these all-time lows in crime are commending their officers for the results, as Capt. Tolson did when he said it is due to “all the hard work of the police officers that are out there working.”
It is odd that people who claim they are the biggest supporters of the police, are quick to say that the words and evidence from NYPD officials about how their officers’ hard work is producing all-time lows in crime, are not accurate. Though they will not say it directly, they are implying that the NYPD is lying or getting all their data wrong, simply because it does not fit the narrative that crime is spiraling out of control, which is the narrative that is most convenient for attacking politicians they do not vote for.
One of the most glaring categories of crime recently has been the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes. I have written about this topic in my previous two columns. On March 29, it was impossible to watch local news or look at social media without coming across videos of two different horrific attacks that occurred in New York City.
One showed an AAPI man being brutally beaten on a subway train, before his attacker choked him until he was left unconscious. Another video showed a 65-year-old Asian woman being knocked to the ground in Midtown and then repeatedly punched and kicked in the head. In both instances, none of the bystanders who witnessed the attacks interceded.
Early that same day, Councilman Justin Brannan and State Sen. Andrew Gounardes gathered on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst with a teenager, Vanessa Lam, and a senior, Maureen Ki, who were victims of anti-Asian harassment and assault just a few blocks apart from each other last week. Also on hand, was Jeana LaDelia, who had witnessed the attack on Vanessa and did bravely step in to help.
The attendees on hand, which included representatives from several local community groups, coming together in unity to support their neighbors, made me proud to be from Southern Brooklyn. Even with crime at all-time lows overall, Brannan and Gounardes are continuing to focus on the issues of public safety that are on the rise.
