In 2025, NYC crime dropped significantly. Murders and shootings both saw a sharp decline. This change came after Jessica Tisch took over as the new head of the NYPD. Tisch took charge at the end of 2024. Right away, she made big changes. She removed some top officers accused of corruption. She introduced new rules to improve life in the city. Her focus was clear: reduce crime and stop repeat offenders.
Leadership Changes Bring Quick Results
Jessica Tisch didn’t waste time. She started her leadership with strong actions. She cleared out bad officers connected to NYC crime. Tisch worked fast to put in place new plans to make the city safer. She focused on fixing the systems that weren’t working. Under her leadership, crime numbers started to drop. By the end of the first quarter of 2025, crime had fallen. The statistics showed fewer murders and shootings.
Murders and Shootings Down by Big Percentages
The latest NYC crime numbers show a major decrease in violent crime. The number of murders in New York City went down to 63. This is a big drop from 96 murders during the same time last year. That’s a 35% decrease. The number of shootings also dropped. There have been 140 shootings so far this year. Last year, there were 182 shootings in the same months. This is a 23% decrease. If these trends continue, New York City could see the lowest number of murders and shootings in nearly a decade. The last time numbers were this low was in 2017 and 2018.
Tisch’s Plan Focuses on Reducing Crime
Many people say Tisch’s approach is working. A detective from Manhattan said, “Tisch is running this like a business. The bottom line is crime reduction in NYC.” Tisch’s plan worked because she focused on the right issues. She paid attention to programs that were being ignored before. She also made sure the police responded to complaints quickly after NYC crime incidents. She started tracking how officers responded to complaints through the city’s 311 system. This helped improve the quality of life for the people in the city.
Tackling Problems That Affect Daily Life
Tisch’s plan is also aimed at problems like panhandling, drug use in public, and homelessness. These issues were getting worse, but Tisch acted quickly to fix them. She created a special team to focus on these areas. The team works together with strong leadership to tackle the problems head-on. In addition, Tisch made changes to the police academy. She wanted to increase the number of police officers. Part of her plan was to bring back the timed 1.5-mile run as part of the training. She also lowered the number of college credits needed to join the police force. Instead of 60 credits, officers only need 24.
Fighting Repeat Offenders to Keep the City Safe
One of Tisch’s main goals is to stop repeat offenders linked to NYC crime. She talked about how frustrating it is for police officers to arrest the same people for the same crimes. Officers were seeing the same faces over and over. This was making it harder to keep the streets safe. Tisch also spoke about how scary it is for people to see someone who hurt them out on the streets again so soon. In an article she wrote for The Post in January, Tisch said, “The time for small fixes is over.” She believes the criminal justice system needs to focus more on the rights of victims. She also said that New Yorkers deserve a better system that helps stop the cycle of crime.
