Violent crime was down across Brooklyn in February for the third consecutive month, according to the latest NYPD statistics.
In the 28-day period from Feb. 3-March 3, major felonies — defined by the NYPD as murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto — were down about 16% year-over-year. A total of 1,945 major felonies were recorded across the borough during that period, compared to 2,316 in 2024.
Crime has been decreasing in Brooklyn since December, police data shows. Major incidents were down almost 25% in December 2024 and 27% in January.
The trend is the same citywide, NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch announced on Monday. Crime across the five boroughs was down 14.5% year-over-year in February, and shootings in the first two months of the year reached a 30-year low.
Tisch attributed the ongoing decline to “zone-based” policing, where more cops are deployed to neighborhoods experiencing spikes in criminal activity, and overnight patrols on the city’s subways.
Transit crime was down about 15% across the city and 33% in Brooklyn, though the borough did see several subway incidents last month, including a stabbing on board an L train in Williamsburg and a violent groping in Kensington.
“Whether on the streets or below ground on the subway, New Yorkers are seeing real results,” Tisch said in a statement. “We’re going to continue to make our city safer by listening to our communities, analyzing real-time data, and deploying our resources where they are needed most.”
There were exceptions to the trend — in the Brooklyn North patrol, which covers 10 precincts from East New York to Williamsburg, felony assault rose 5.7% year-over-year, with 315 incidents reported in February. In Brooklyn South, which stretches across 13 precincts from Coney Island to Cobble Hill, rape increased by 43.8% — with 23 incidents reported compared to 16 during the same period last year. Across Brooklyn, rape was up 15% in February.
Rape and other sex crimes have defied Brooklyn’s overall downward trend in criminal activity, statistics show. From Feb. 3-March 2, “other sex crimes,” which are counted separately from rape, were up 11% across the borough, though UCR Rape was down more than 27% year-over-year.
In one incident on Feb. 11, a man reportedly tried to rape a woman in Brooklyn Heights after posing as an ICE agent.
Outside of the seven major felonies, gun violence was also down across the city and in Kings County. Shootings in Brooklyn were down 7%, from 14 to 13, statistics show. Year-to-date, shootings are down about 10%, with 34 reported across the borough.
Though shootings are down, Brooklyn still saw several violent incidents last month, including an apparent murder-suicide in Bushwick, a Brownsville shooting that left a 17-year-old injured, and a deadly shooting at Bed-Stuy NYCHA complex.
Hate crimes in Brooklyn dropped by almost 50% year-over-year, and traffic deaths by about one-quarter. Three people were killed in traffic incidents between Feb. 2-March 3, and all three died in a three-day span from Feb. 27 to March 1.
