april 20, 2024 nyc office of the mayor news
deputy mayor philip banks, iii, public safety: good afternoon. we're here this afternoon to make an announcement, a very important announcement about public safety in new york city. i'm joined here today by commissioner of the city of new york police department, edward caban, nypd chief of training olufunmilola obe, new york city budget director jacques jiha, and of course the mayor of new york city, mayor eric adams. with that, i'd like to turn it over to the mayor of new york city, mayor eric adams.
mayor eric adams: thank you. thanks so much, dm banks and the entire team that's here. we stated over and over again throughout the campaign and while in office, that the pre-requisite to our prosperity is public safety and justice. our commitment is something that we are dedicated to living out. since day one the administration has been clear on our goal of public safety, revitalize our economy, and make our city livable for working-class new yorkers. the result speaks for themself. we have hit another all-time record high for jobs in new york city, a year earlier than projected.
so far, in 2024, crime is down across the city with month after month decreases. really want to thank the men and women of the new york city police department, that they have continued to forge ahead with a very clear and direct message that we will continue to have this city as the safest big city in america. so far in 2024, these numbers have shown that across the city we have brought down crime. last year we saw double-digit decreases in shootings and homicides, and have double-digit decreases in both categories in 2022.
in 2023, new york city realized the largest decrease in shooting incidents for a calendar year in nearly 30 years. this is unmanageable when you think about it.
think about this for a moment. in 2023, shooting incidents were down in all five boroughs. the city saw a reduction of more than 300 shooting incidents and more than 400 fewer people being victims of gun violence. gun violence went down and shooting victims went down. as a result, this freed up our men and women who are detectives and other investigators who do the important work in our city. this has enabled them to spend more time keeping new yorkers safe in so many different ways, and it has prevented some of the trauma that family members experience when you have a victim of a crime. this is what we promised, and this is what the greatest police department on the globe has delivered. i always say this and i will continue to say that public safety and justice is, and they are the prerequisite to our prosperity.
by driving down crime, we have saved lives and laid the foundation for economic recovery, but we want to keep this success going and we cannot do it without the men and women of the police department. we saw what happened in our subway system. after a slight spike in january of 2024, the commissioner deployed 1,000 new officers into the system. we saw double digit decreases in february, double digit decrease in march, and the last first quarter of this year, we saw a decrease in our transit crime. we want to continue this success.
with the work of our budget director and his team, we are now proud to announce that thanks to his strong fiscal management and of the city and a booming economy that help us hit another new all-time total jobs level, as well as the lowest black unemployment rate since before covid. we have established the city budget. we have established the city budget and our fiscal outlook.
we're now able to fund two additional police classes this year in the upcoming executive budget. this would allow us to have 1,200 additional officers who will be hitting the streets to keep our city even safer in the coming year. while we continue to drive down shootings and homicide at a historic level, these officers will give us the much-needed support to continue this success.
we want to be clear on this. these officers will join two other police classes that have already started this year, which means more than 2,400 recruits joining the ranks of the nypd this year. all this puts new york city on the path to have a total of 35,000 police officers, uniformed officers in the coming years. we're getting those numbers back up to the numbers that we believe is needed to continue our success. that means tens of thousands of police officers will be on our streets, our subway system, and create a safer environment for our city.
every day we'll continue to build a city focused on supporting working-class people that is safer, more prosperous, and more livable. our administration remains committed to keeping this city as the safest big city in america. we cannot do this without the team that the commissioner has put in place. i want to really thank commissioner caban for his commitment and dedication. i now want to turn it over to the [police] commissioner of the city of new york, commissioner caban.
police commissioner edward caban: thank you mayor adams and thank you, deputy mayor banks. the nypd continues to be relentless in its work to drive down violence and keep new yorkers safe. week after week, month after month, new york city violence continues to fall. building on the reductions achieved in 2022 and 2023, murder is down nearly 20 percent so far this year. when it comes to shooting incidents, our progress has been even more significant.
as we stand here today, shooting incidents in 2024 are down 23 percent citywide. that means upwards of 80 fewer people have been struck by gunfire so far this year. if you look at the numbers since this administration began, we've had 130 less homicides and 797 less shooting victims. the ripple effect of that decrease is incredible, so many fewer lives touched by violence. in areas of the city where violence has often felt entrenched are also now seeing reductions.
during my career, i spent many years uptown working with the amazing people of harlem. today, manhattan north is down 45 percent in shootings with four commands with zero shootings so far this year. this is important progress. it's a testament to the commitment of our cops and our investigators who are out there day and night answering the call. beyond having the best cops in all of law enforcement, it's up to the leadership to give them the tools they need to succeed.
the mayor has been a strong supporter of technology from day one. when it comes to technology, the metrics has been clear. look at everything. the nypd is at the forefront of that work. from drone deployment to weapons detection, the exploration of new technology remains an ongoing priority for this department. of course, the men and women are the ultimate fighters in crime.
they're the ones who understand this city, who know our neighborhoods, and who use technology to develop solutions. they're the ones who stay on the street corner and let the world know, not today, not on my watch. as commissioner, if you ask me what i need most, the answer will always be more cops. that is why today is so important. the people we serve demand public safety and the men and women of the nypd are proud to hold that line.
thank you, mr. mayor, for restoring these upcoming recruit classes and for your generous support of the nypd. these additional officers will play a key role in our efforts to continually reduce violence and protect new yorkers. today's news makes our city safer and it's a great day for new york. thank you very much.
question: [inaudible.]
right now we have over 50,000 men and women of the nypd, 15,000 civilian workers, and 34,000 uniformed workers.
question: [inaudible.]
commissioner caban: i was even putting more classes in. we have a recruit class graduating in may of over 600 cops, a recruit class graduating in july of over 600, and we're putting an additional 600 in april.
question: [inaudible.]
commissioner caban: more or less we'll be up to our highest level of 35,000 officers.
question: [inaudible.]
mayor adams: okay, thank you very much.
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