Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) district saw a 57% increase in major crime under her tenure, a new study found.
The district suffered massive increases in what the New York Police Department considers the seven “major” crimes of murder, rape, robbery, felonious assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto, a study by former NYPD inspector Paul Mauro found. Shootings went up by 47.05%, the study said.
“Let’s just say, with those numbers: Were she a precinct commander, she’d better have some answers for the chief of department,” Mauro wrote in an opinion piece.
The former inspector dismissed anticipated criticism that the end of coronavirus lockdowns was the culprit for the increase because crime rates were consistently increasing while the lockdowns were underway. He tied the drastic increase to the $1.5 billion cut in funding for the NYPD in 2020, an effort Ocasio-Cortez spearheaded and lamented wasn’t enough.
“Defunding police means defunding police. It does not mean budget tricks or funny math,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a press release. “If these reports are accurate, then these proposed ‘cuts’ to the NYPD budget are a disingenuous illusion. This is not a victory. The fight to defund policing continues.”
The deal Ocasio-Cortez lambasted included canceling the city’s July class of 1,163 cadets and $350 million in cuts to overtime pay and other expenses, according to the New York Post.
In the 14th Congressional District, which has about 650,000 people, total major crimes went up from 6,280 in 2019 to 9,862 in 2022. Total crimes in general went up from 11,709 in 2019 to 17,684 in 2022. Hate crimes increased by 81.25% in the past two years. These statistics only cover 2022 so far, which means that the percentage increase by the end of the year is likely to be far greater.
