New York City is seeing a surge in major felonies, especially grand larceny and burglary, as the city reopens from the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions are loosened.
Grand larcenies within the city have risen dramatically over the last four weeks to 2,683 complaints, up nearly 37% from this time last year, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.
A report from February found that the city had one of its bloodiest years on record, with a 97% increase in shootings and a 44% increase in murders in 2020.
Grand larcenies on the rebound as NYC opens back up https://t.co/aKedE5C6AJ pic.twitter.com/OLzxIUDqgr
— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) June 8, 2021
“It was only going to be a matter of time before grand larcenies went up.” One anonymous New York police officer reportedly told the Post, adding that as the city continues to reopen, the upward trajectory will continue.
Data released by the New York Police Department showed that, while grand larceny complaints dipped last year to 35,505 from 43,250, the number of grand larceny of a motor vehicle nearly doubled and burglary increased nearly 50%.
The data also noted that murders and non-negligence manslaughter offenses increased from 319 to 468 in 2020.
Officers reportedly told the Post that while the pandemic had caused burglaries and larcenies to drop as a result of the closures of “feeding grounds” for potential crimes, recent bail-reform laws passed last summer had caused repeat offenders to recommit larcenies. (RELATED: NYC Judge Releases Hate Crime Suspect, Says Bail Reform Law Leaves No Choice)
“We keep arresting the same people over and over,” one of the officers told the Post, saying that the new laws were helping repeat offenders and that the more people that come into the city, there will be more victims of these crimes.