The NYPD routinely touts its efforts to curb gun crimes, noting the continued drop in shooting incidents and in the number of victims.
But that good news — 21 fewer shooting incidents with 26 fewer victims so far this year, from Jan. 1 through May 10 — does not paint a full picture of gun violence in the city, since the NYPD does not make fully public incidents in which shots are fired but no one is struck. It’s an omission the chairperson of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee said deprives New Yorkers of a full understanding of gun violence in their communities.
“Data related to shooting victims is essential and data on shots-fired incidents is just as important,” said the chairperson, Councilman Oswald Feliz (D-Bronx). “These incidents provide clear information on escalating conditions that can lead to future violence.
“It enables communities and policy-makers to better assess intervention-related strategies and helps create a fuller picture of the public safety risks affecting communities.”
Barry Williams / New York Daily News
New York City Councilman Oswald Feliz is pictured in Manhattan on April 21. (Barry Williams / New York Daily News)
Dr. John Eterno, who heads the graduate program in criminal justice at Molloy University, said even though police are obviously aware of the issues and crime patterns in each neighborhood, the NYPD should be as transparent as possible with the public.
“This is important information for the public to have, so it could analyzed, looked at,” Eterno said. “Where are the hot spots? What can be done about them? How are the police responding?”
Courtesy of John Eterno
Dr. John Eterno, head of the graduate program in criminal justice at Molloy University. (Courtesy of John Eterno)
On the NYPD website, the public can each week find updated crime data for review for each precinct in the city. The statistics include the seven major crimes that comprise the crime rate — murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and grand larceny auto — as well as shooting incidents, which the NYPD defines as those in which someone is struck by gunfire, and the number of shooting victims.
The statistics do not include shots-fired incidents in which no one was struck.
One such incident happened the night of April 15, when Bronx police officers recovered 18 shell casings at a shooting scene at Findlay Ave. and E. 167th St.
A window at a nearby building was blown out, as was the driver’s-side window of a parked vehicle, but no one was actually shot. On April 27, Isaiah Edwards, 18, was charged with attempted murder. According to a criminal complaint, Edwards was part of a group that fired multiple guns at six other people.
The department says compiling shots-fired data “is not as straight forward or accurate as…shooting victims and shooting incidents, as it can be recorded in different ways.”
The NYPD also said, in a statement, that the data it does release “provides the clearest and most complete picture of gun violence in New York City.”
But multiple police sources said the department each day compiles shots-fired incidents that police investigate after learning about them in numerous ways — from 911 calls, from officers who happen to be nearby or from ShotSpotter alerts.
Not every report is confirmed. ShotSpotter alerts, which are available on the city’s NYC Open Data web site, are not always accurate. Some of the alerts are determined to be other loud noises — such as a car backfiring — and police do not always find ballistic evidence, witnesses or video.
But when shell casings are recovered, they are analyzed for links to other gun crimes in which shell casings were found.
And in numerous instances, the department’s press office often sends out via email an RMA, or request for media attention, such as on May 7, when surveillance photos of five males were released, with police explaining they were wanted for firing multiple shots three days earlier on Prospect Ave. near E. 167th St. in the Bronx.
William Alatriste / NYC Council Media Unit
City Councilman Justin Sanchez. (William Alatriste / NYC Council Media Unit)
City Counciman Justin Sanchez (D-Bronx), in whose district that shooting happened, said even without anyone struck, there are long-range consequences for those who live on that block or nearby.
“It is beyond traumatic,” he said. “It is our daily reality. Even if someone doesn’t get shot, it is still horrific having to see that, having to hear that.”
Courtesy of Jordan DeVylder
Dr. Jordan DeVylder, an associate professor at NYU who has written about the effects of gun violence. (Courtesy of Jordan DeVylder)
Dr. Jordan DeVylder agrees.
A New York University associate professor who has written about gun violence’s impact, he said even for crimes not made public, the effects are very real — fear and anxiety, even for those who played no role in the incident and may have only heard about what happened.
“You wonder if you’re going to be the victim the next time you go outside,” DeVylder said. “It’s triggering in a post-traumatic sort of way. And it can lead to a sense of helplessness if you ask, ‘Why is this happening in my neighborhood and not in other neighborhoods?’”