Trevor Schakohl on January 2, 2023
Following a year of high violent crime in the state, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul promised to improve public safety during her inauguration speech on Sunday.
Hochul said authorities must do everything possible to ensure that New Yorkers remain “free from fear” in their streets, subways and schools. According to Hochul, the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the social fabric of the city, which has contributed to the recent increase in crime. Gun violence killed over 37% more people across 20 police jurisdictions statewide from January through November 2022 than the average for those months over the previous five years, despite a relative decrease compared to 2021, according to New York State Criminal Justice Services Division data.
Violent crime has particularly impacted New York City. Its year-to-date murder complaints through Dec. 25 decreased compared to 2021, while rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto complaints all went up, contributing to a more than 30% overall spike across those offenses, police data showed.
Hochul specifically mentioned the recent rise in hate crimes, pledging to combat “antisemitism, Asian hate, anti-LGBTQ hate and the systemic racism that still persists to this day.” New York City hate crimes occurred at a roughly 70% higher rate in November 2022 than during the same month in 2021, based on NYPD statistics.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg issued a memo in early January 2022 saying his office would treat armed robberies without a seriously injured victim or “genuine risk of physical harm” as misdemeanors and not pursue prison sentences for crimes other than murder, other violent felonies, sex offenses or major white collar crimes. Following the killing of a police officer whose widow decried Bragg’s soft-on-crime policies later that month, Hochul warned the district attorney in a private meeting that she could force him to make changes, the New York Post reported.
Bragg said in a February memo that his office would prosecute anyone “who harms or attempts to harm a police officer” and charge commercial armed robberies as felonies. He claimed the January memo was supposed to provide a “framework” but had been “a source of confusion.”
Hochul’s Republican November election opponent Lee Zeldin vowed to fire Bragg immediately upon taking office and declare a crime emergency. Zeldin ultimately lost by fewer votes than any Republican New York gubernatorial nominee in the previous four elections.
Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
New York Governor Promises Crackdown On Crime After Violent 2022
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