Violent crime has spiked remarkably in New York City parks in the last nine months, NBC 4 New York reported.
According to statistics analyzed by the organization New York Parks Advocates and NBC, violent crime shot up 23 percent from June 2015 through March 2016, compared to the identical nine-month interval last year.
“The numbers are striking considering total crime in parks only increased 3 percent,” NBC noted.
The study covered over 1,100 New York City parks and showed that rape cases spiked 40 percent , felony assaults rose 34 percent and robberies shot up 15 percent. Murders also rose 200 percent, from two to six. Overall, 417 people reported being the victims of violent crimes. This is compared to 340 individuals in the prior nine months.
“It’s pretty shocking,” said Geoffrey Croft, president of New York Parks Advocates. “A 23-percent rise in violent crime is very serious and the fact that more than one person a day is reporting being a victim of violent crime is very serious.”
Outgoing NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton argued, though that crime is still down. “The parks in the city are heavily utilized so some of the victimization you’re seeing is reflective of many of the larger number of people in the parks,” he said. “But the overall numbers are still very, very small.”