New York City Suffers 50 Percent Murder Spike In August, Shootings More Than Double

While left-wing ideologues demand cities defund the police, the current situation in New York City offers a compelling case for law enforcement’s existence, showcasing the need for more, not less, public protection.

New York City suffered 242 recorded shootings in August alone, up from 91 last year, according to an analysis of crime data from the New York Times published Tuesday. As shootings more than doubled, homicides naturally rose along with them from 36 to 53.

The August numbers continue a traumatizing trend seen in the Big Apple and other major cities across the country. Crime has skyrocketed amid the coronavirus pandemic, a suffering economy, and a perpetual wave of historic unrest sweeping the nation’s urban centers in a presidential election year.

The Times reported that while crime in America’s largest city still hasn’t eclipsed peak levels from two and three decades ago, the sharp increase in murders and shootings has driven numbers up to rates not seen since the 1950s. According to the Wall Street Journal, murders have surged 34 percent for the year overall compared to 2019, from 217 to 291, coinciding with an 87 percent increase in shootings. Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio chalks up the rise in violent crime to the city dealing with a “perfect storm” of issues after he and fellow Democrats defunded the police department by $1 billion.