Reports of major felonies across Brooklyn were down 3% in April, compared to the same period last year — but while crime has been down every month this year, the decrease is shrinking as warmer weather approaches.
In January, violent crime in Kings County was down 27% year-over-year. In February, it was down 16%, and in March, 6%.
And while Brooklyn’s collective crime rate was down this month, the rates of the seven major felonies — murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto — rose in 12 of Brooklyn’s 23 police precincts.
Across the borough, assault was up more than 13% year-over-year, per the latest NYPD statistics, with a total of 687 assaults reported between April 1-27.
Most other major felonies were down across the borough, but spiked in some neighborhoods.
In the Brooklyn North patrol district, for example, grand larceny rose by 6.8% and grand larceny auto by 3.2%, even though both crimes were down borough-wide. Rape and robbery were up 50% and 8.1%, respectively, in Brooklyn South.
Rape has continued to spike as other crimes declined, statistics show, and was down just 2.1% across the borough — with 40 rapes reported from April 1-27 compared to 41 during the same period last year.
Citywide, rape was up more than 20% in the first quarter of 2025 and 24.6% in April. NYPD officials have claimed that the rise is due in part to a change in state law that “broadened the definition of sexual assault. In Brooklyn, sex crimes aside from rape were up 14% in April.
Murder was down by 50% in April, stats show, and shootings by 10%, with five murders and 17 shootings reported across the borough.
Still, Brooklyn saw a number of high-profile shootings, including the fatal April 11 shooting of a 45-year-old man in Brighton Beach and a triple shooting that left three people injured in East Flatbush on April 19.
On April 27, an 18-year-old died after he was shot in the chest in Coney Island, while a 17-year-old was left critically injured after he was shot in the head during an unrelated incident in East Flatbush on April 29.
There were also a number of stabbings in the borough. On April 21, a 28-year-old woman was stabbed by a stranger outside an East Flatbush school. The same day, a 29-year-old man was found slashed and bleeding on a Greenpoint sidewalk after an apparent domestic dispute. Days later, a 52-year-old man was fatally stabbed near a playground in Bushwick.
Outside of major felonies, transit crime was up 19% year-over-year, with 31 incidents reported across Brooklyn compared to 26 last year. Hate crimes were up dramatically, rising 81% from 16 to 29.
