On Saturday, there were 16 incidents and 18 victims, according to the New York Police Department, compared with the three incidents and three victims the city saw a year ago. A sixfold increase in the number of people injured during shootings, this was the biggest increase during the weekend period from Friday to Sunday.
It’s unclear what’s fueling the rise in violence. The pandemic, bail reform and changes to policing are among the reasons an expert cited to WCBS. While the cause of the increase is up for debate, it’s clear shootings are on the rise.
This past Friday, there were nine incidents, three times the number there were on the same day last year, and 13 victims, a fourfold increase from 2019. The violence continued on Sunday, where there were 10 incidents and 15 victims, up from three incidents and four victims in 2019.
Of the 45 people who were shot over the weekend, eight were killed, according to the New York Police Department.
Given the rise in shootings on weekends, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea is changing shifts to increase police presence. One-third of officers under the rank of captain who have Saturdays and Sundays off will move to a Sunday through Thursday schedule, and another one-third will work a Tuesday through Saturday schedule, according to a memo obtained by the New York Daily News.
“We are doing what we can with the resources we have, making sure it’s all hands are deck. This will give us a little bit of flexibility and make sure we keep officers on the street, which is where we need them,” Shea told WABC.
On Wednesday, Sam Metcalfe, 33, was shot in his spine by a stray bullet in Flatbush, a Brooklyn neighborhood, according to the New York Post. His mother-in-law, Susan Parziale, told the newspaper it happened because “the cops aren’t around.”
“It’s not safe now,” Parziale said. “There used to be police all over that neighborhood, but now they aren’t doing anything.”
As to whom is to blame for the increase in shootings, it depends on whom you ask. Police Benevolent Association (PBA) President Pat Lynch told WCBS this is the most “difficult time to be a police officer” he has seen in his 36-year-career. He said he was unsure who the leaders in the city were “speaking for.”
Lynch endorsed President Donald Trump on behalf of the PBA on August 14. Mayor Bill de Blasio cited the endorsement as evidence there’s a “right-wing agenda that’s trying to impose its ideology in New York City” and told WCBS the union leadership is “trying to divide us.”
On Saturday, demonstrators gathered in front of City Hall Park to demand that de Blasio step up and fix the city or step down from his position.
“None of you should be worried about your parents, grandparents or even children going to any store to get bread, milk and having to worry about them getting assaulted with gun violence,” Sergeants Benevolent Association Vice President Vincent Vallelong said, according to the Post. “Murders are up in this city, burglaries are up, grand larceny—nothing, he’s doing nothing.”
