New York City’s schools have seen a significant increase in crime over the last year, part of the wider wave of criminal activity facing the city in the last three years. The increase in charges goes beyond regular concerns such as bullying but instead is related to robbery and burglaries.
New York City schools saw more than 400 major crimes in the period between July 2022 and June 2023. This represented an increase of 16% over the previous year, and more than half of these crimes were grand larcenies or burglaries.
Overall, cases of grand larceny increased by more than 53%, to a total of 151 during that one-year span. Furthermore, the number of burglaries increased considerably, jumping by 76%.
The news was criticized by a number of New York elected officials, who link the increase with ‘defund the police’ efforts in recent years.
New York City Councilman Robert Holden (D) said that it was “deeply troubling to see a rise in felonies within our schools, especially when just a few years ago this was not a significant issue.”
In particular, New York has seen a significant increase in break-ins at a number of schools across the Bronx.
A 14-year-old male student was arrested after police discovered a loaded gun in the back of his moped around 10 a.m., outside of the J. M. Rapport School Career Development in Mott Haven, Bronx.
School safety agents on Wednesday saw the student on the moped acting suspiciously,… pic.twitter.com/x2Zbh0NEP3
— Crime in NYC (@CrimeInNYC) September 29, 2023
Earlier this year, New York police arrested two men believed connected to a break-in at Lehman High School near 3:00 a.m. The alleged burglars broke in using a rock to smash the front door of the school.
According to police, the suspects stole a number of items, including toys, a hole puncher and an expensive calculator. The suspects were charged with burglary and criminal trespassing among other unspecified charges. Video surveillance appears to show a third person also involved in the break-in.
The break-in at the Lehman High School location may be part of a wider string of burglaries in the neighborhood earlier this year. In one case, a number of suspected youths broke into schools and stole more than $40,000 worth of calculators.
