Its transformation from urban war zone in the early 1990s to shining metropolitan destination has long been a point of pride for the Police Department, and for two decades, homicide rates have continued to plummet.
But in the first three months of this year, that trend took a concerning turn in the opposite direction, driven by a more than 60 percent spike in killings in Brooklyn. As of March 24, the borough had recorded 28 homicides this year, compared with 17 in the same period last year.
At the same time, police officials said, there was a 15 percent increase in killings citywide, to 69 from 60.
Crime rates rise and fall periodically, and it is too early to tell if the increase in killings foretells a new crime wave that would challenge the sense of security that has become part of the city’s identity. Over time, the increase may be offset by quieter periods, and trends that appear worrisome in March often level off by August.
“There are month-to-month fluctuations, not necessarily indicative of a trend,” said Chief Lori Pollack, who oversees crime-control strategies.
Still, the spike in homicides in Brooklyn — particularly in the 10 precincts in the Brooklyn North command — has left police officials scrambling to contain it. Senior commanders said a small number of people linked to street gangs appear to be responsible for the recent wave of shootings.
“They’re gang-related shootings, and it’s the same related individuals who are showing up,” said Chief Terence Monahan, the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer. He added that some of the people detained in connection with recent shootings were facing gun charges in other boroughs and had been released on bail.
There have been 21 killings in the Brooklyn North precincts, compared with 12 at this time last year. Many of those slayings have been clustered in neighborhoods like East New York and Brownsville. Others have occurred on the edges of rapidly gentrifying areas like Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant, where there were four killings within a five-block radius earlier this year.
To counter the violence, the police commissioner, James O’Neill, announced in March that the department would add officers to four of the city’s problem precincts, including the 79th Precinct, which covers parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and south Williamsburg. The department is also shifting officers from Queens into public housing complexes in northern Brooklyn, where much of the violence has flared.
The addition of officers has already led to a significant increase in gun arrests in Brooklyn, the police said.
“This is how we’ve reduced crime, by focusing our resources,” O’Neill said. “I think we’ve turned a corner in King’s County. We understand what the mission is, and that’s to keep people safe.”
The violence in Brooklyn is still a far cry from the crest of the homicide wave of the early 1990s. By April in 1993, for instance, the same 10 precincts in Brooklyn North already had more than 80 killings.
Still, the memory of the days when the city was known as one of America’s most dangerous places haunts the police and elected officials. Mayor Bill de Blasio said the police department was employing a number of strategies to counter the violence, including programs to forge tighter bonds with the community in high-crime precincts.
“We’re not going to stop until we make more fundamental changes, and make people safer and make sure they feel safer at the same time,” DeBlasio said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.