Police officers are seen at the scene of a fatal shooting near Raymond Bush Playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
NEW YORK - A disturbing spike in gun violence continues in New York City, as police say they are taking much larger numbers of guns off of the streets.
Just released statistics from the NYPD show that there was a 125% in shootings in the city in November compared to the same period last year. There were 115 shootings in the city last month.
Shootings have risen 96% (1,412 v. 721) through the first 11 months of 2020, compared with the same period last year. Those levels have not been seen for years in the city.
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Gun arrests for the month of November are up 112% (484 v. 228), with year-to-day gun arrests up 22% (3,793 v. 3,104) compared with the same period a year ago.
Homicides have also risen both for the month and the year. November saw 28 people murdered, five more than last November. There has been a 38% spike in murders for the year.
In June, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea announced an initiative to address the rampant gun violence.
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The police department is focusing on hotspot areas where the majority of the violence has reported but will spread to any other neighborhood that sees an uptick, the mayor had said.
The program includes a series of anti-gun town halls around the city billed as "Stop the Violence" events.
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Mayor addresses NYC gun violence
Mayor Bill de Blasio blamed the uptick in shootings at least in part on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. But the NYPD isn't making as many gun arrests, according to research.