Gun violence is dropping in Brooklyn as 2024 ends, with most serious crime in the borough falling too
Dec. 31, 2024, 4:37 p.m.
But rape and felony assault both showed increases, according to NYPD data.
Gun violence in Brooklyn was on the retreat as 2024 drew to a close, according to borough District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, touting NYPD data on Tuesday. Homicide was on the decline as well, while rapes and felony assaults increased, according to the data.
There were 287 shooting incidents, down 15% from 2023, the lowest total since records began, and improving upon the 290 shootings recorded in 2019, just ahead of the pandemic, according to the data.
There were fewer shooting victims as well – 345, down 14% from the prior year, according to the NYPD data. The previous low was 363, recorded in 2019. Overall, homicide fell 6% in the borough, to 120 deaths.
“Brooklyn continues to get safer year after year and we’re now the safest we’ve ever been in terms of gun violence,” Gonzalez said. “Murders and other serious crime declined as well in 2024 as we return to pre-pandemic levels.”
The borough’s gains in gun violence follow overall trends; shootings have consistently fallen in the city since 2021, though shootings in the Bronx rose in 2024.
Gonzalez credited the reductions to the work of prosecutors and police, law enforcement partnerships and technological advances in crime fighting.
Felony assaults continue to rise in Brooklyn as elsewhere in the city. According to the NYPD data, assaults in Brooklyn have risen every year since 2019 and are now 30% higher than before the pandemic, with South Brooklyn experiencing the most significant increases.
In North Brooklyn, reported rapes were up about 15%, while the number was flat in South Brooklyn. Overall crime in the borough declined by about 5%, according to police data.
Gonzalez credited the work of Brooklyn prosecutors; he said they won 89% of their cases in 2024, and failed to win convictions in 12 out of 113 major trials. But he also credited the work of the borough’s Conviction Review Unit. It exonerated its 40th individual since its creation in 2014.
“While we still have much work to do, I am optimistic that we will keep building on this progress into 2025 and beyond,” Gonzalez said.
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