New York City police have made fewer arrests during the coronavirus pandemic, prompting questions about whether that has played a role in a rise in shootings and other violent crime, reports the Wall Street Journal. Officers made 84,930 arrests between Jan. 1 and Aug. 9, a 39 percent drop from last year. Homicides rose 29 percent to 244 from Jan. 1 to Aug. 2. The city recorded an 84.6 percent rise in shooting victims to 1,017. Police, the mayor, other politicians and criminologists debate the significance of falling arrests at a time when crime is rising in the city as it emerges from a public-health crisis that has devastated its economy. Former police commander Joseph Pollini, a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said fewer arrests, even for low-level offenses, can lead to more crime. “If there’s nobody taking hard-core police action on the streets, from the lowest level to the highest level, it creates a big kink in the system,” he said.
NYPD Chief of Crime Strategies Michael LiPetri said the arrest drop hasn’t affected crime rates. LiPetri said police have intentionally made fewer arrests for years, as part of a strategy that focuses on violent crimes while reducing arrests for less-serious offenses. The number of arrests began to decline in 2010 as crime rates fell to some of the lowest levels in decades. “We reformed, and obviously it worked,” LiPetri said. One reason arrests dropped was that some officers were diverted from their normal patrol duties to watch the demonstrations after the death of George Floyd. Weeks after the marches died down, officers were still working to solve crimes committed around the protests, including vandalism of police vehicles and widespread looting. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a former police captain, believes officers in some precincts are staging a work slowdown.