”What we never do is reflect back on ourselves to think, ‘Why are we having these problems and what do we do to prevent them from occurring in the future?’” Butts said.
”What we never do is reflect back on ourselves to think, ‘Why are we having these problems and what do we do to prevent them from occurring in the future?’” Butts said.
Public officials may point to “juvenile” crime when responding to public concerns about community safety. Recent statements by federal officials echo the political rhetoric of the 1990s when politicians across the country blamed young people for what were actually generalized increases in crime.
“In Midtown, and in most of Manhattan, your chances of being harmed personally by crime are quite low,” said Jeffrey A. Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The people most at risk are in the disadvantaged, economically excluded neighborhoods.”
After a violence interrupter program was implemented in Brooklyn’s East New York section, gun injury rates fell 50 percent — compared to a 5 percent decline in nearby Flatbush, a neighborhood without such a program, according to a 2017 study from John Jay College.
It does not appear to be accurate to attribute recent increases in violent crime to the State law known as “Raise the Age.”
Violent index crimes (murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) generally declined statewide between 2010 and 2020 before surging with the onset of the social and economic disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The surge was limited to New York City and its suburbs.