Though a number of serious crimes were reported on in January in the Northwest Bronx and across the borough, NYPD officials said that for the month of January, the number of overall shooting incidents and murders in New York City declined, compared to January 2022, a drop they attribute to what was called the department’s “enhanced public safety investment” across each borough, in every neighborhood.

 

Department officials said major crimes in the subway system have dropped precipitously, and arrests for overall index crimes stand at a 24-year high for any January in the modern era (when the department starting to formally track crime stats using the CompStat system). Overall index crime for January 2023 compared to January 2022 was up 4.1 percent (10,067 v. 9,672). Officials said this was led by a 14.9 percent increase in felony assaults (2,056 v. 1,790).

Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said of the latest statistics, “As we step forward through 2023 and beyond, the women and men of the New York City Police Department are continuing to effectively and efficiently suppress violence, address the drivers of crime, and safeguard our streets and our subways.”

 

Meanwhile, citywide shooting incidents had decreased in January by 26.3 percent (73 v. 99) which officials said was driven by steep reductions in such incidents in The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Similarly, they said the number of gun violence victims across the City decreased by 21.8 percent (86 v. 110) compared to the same period last year, while murders decreased by 3.2 percent (30 v. 31).

 

The number of arrests for index crimes in New York City in January was up 29.6 percent (4,420 v. 3,410) when compared to the January prior. NYPD officials said this was a month-to-month benchmark unsurpassed since 1999 – nearly a quarter-century.

In terms of transit crime, officials said the NYPD’s subway safety strategy augmented police coverage on trains and platforms while adding visible, uniformed resources at or near the system’s many points of entry across the five boroughs.

 

They said this plan resulted in a 29.3 percent decrease in major crimes (145 v. 205) in transit for January 2023, compared to January 2022, led by a 44.3 percent reduction in grand larceny (54 v. 97) and a 20.7 percent reduction in robbery (46 v. 58). They said the subway system’s downward crime trend has been steady since additional deployment began last fall.

 

The latest statistics for the 52nd Precinct which covers the neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Bronx Park, and University Heights, the 50th Precinct which covers the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Fieldston, Marble Hill, and Spuyten Duyvil, as well as Van Cortlandt Park, and the 46th Precinct which covers the neighborhoods of Fordham, University Heights, Morris Heights and Mount Hope are attached.

Locally, as reported, a 13-year-old boy was arrested for possession of a loaded gun at M.S. 363 in Fordham Heights, and as also reported, a mother of a fatal gunshot victim is seeking answers as to why her son was shot 17 times. Also in January, a pregnant woman was shot.

 

Meanwhile, in University Heights, as reported, a 29-year-old man was arrested in connection with the May 2022 shooting of a 28-year-old man and in a separate University Heights incident, police released additional media and are appealing to the public for help identifying suspects sought for an assault on a police officer.

 

In Kingsbridge Heights, as reported, parents making their routine trip to pick up their kids from school were horrified to learn that a 16-year-old male youth had been stabbed in close proximity to Walton High School, and remains in critical condition following the incident which took place at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, on Jerome Avenue, between West 195th Street and West Kingsbridge Road.

Elsewhere in the Bronx, in Longwood, as reported, fatal gunshot victim, Josue Lopez-Ortega, 15, saved seven people through organ donation.

 

In Throggs Neck, as reported, police are appealing to the public to help identify and locate a man seen driving a white truck in the area on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at around 5.45 p.m., who attempted to lure a 14-year-old girl inside.

 

In other recent crime-related news, as reported, a man has been charged following a fatal three-vehicle collision and fire on the Cross Bronx Expressway in Highbridge in November 2022, while in Soundview, as reported, a neighbor gave her reaction to the arrest of a 15-year-old girl following an arson incident in which a man died in January.

 

In Allerton, police released an additional video of a group sought in connection to the group assault of a 40-year-old man in January. Meanwhile, an off-duty firefighter arrested in the 45th Precinct for driving while intoxicated and in Eastchester, police are searching for a man in connection to a non-fatal shooting.

 

Overall, Sewell said more work was required when it came to certain categories of crime. “We are determined in our efforts to reverse these trends,” she said. “Everyone who lives, works, and visits our great city deserves to be safe, and the members of the NYPD will tolerate nothing less. Our Strategic Plan, announced last month, is focused on innovation, flexibility, and exceeding expectations – and our mission remains concentrated on the safety and security of all the people we serve.”