Sixty-one percent of New Yorkers are either very (21%) or somewhat (40%) concerned that they might be a victim of a crime according to a new survey of New York residents released today from the Siena College Research Institute (SCRI). Fifty-one percent of state residents have been concerned about their or their family’s safety in public places including schools, stores or houses of worship and over a third, 36%, of all New Yorkers have felt threatened over the past year in a public place by a stranger’s behavior.
Forty percent of state residents have spent $100 or more in the last year on goods or services that make them feel safer or more protected from crime. Twelve percent have spent more than $500. About a third have purchased home security cameras (34%) or security lights with motion sensors (32%). A quarter have hired a professionally monitored home security system. One out of every six New Yorkers has taken a self-defense class and 12% have purchased a firearm for self-defense.
Nearly 1 in 10 New Yorkers has over the past year been physically assaulted (9%) and similarly, 9% have been the victim of a burglary. Nearly 40% have witnessed violent or threatening behavior among others in a public setting. Forty-one percent say that they have “never been this worried about their personal safety as they are today” while a majority, 58%, say that they are no more worried about being the victim of a crime today than they have been in the past.
That's how I kind of feel about my bicycle, having to get a heavy bicycle lock and just the number of homeless people and litter downtown. Maybe it's just I'm noticing it more since being away from the city during the pandemic, but it just seems like the streets are a lot rougher then they once were.
For decades, American courts have had to take it on faith that drug-sniffing dogs were impartial. Testimony by a dog's handler, along with training records and credentialing by a local K-9 organization, were usually enough. But the recent spread of body cameras now threatens to upend that faith.
A newly filed federal lawsuit in Texas shows cameras' potential to undermine K-9 unit legitimacy. Houston resident Alek Schott accuses Bexar County Sheriff's deputy Joel Babb of pulling him over on Interstate 35 on false pretenses, and then, when he refused to give permission to search his pickup truck, he says K-9 unit deputy Martin A. Molina III prompted his dog to "alert" to the scent of drugs.
K-9 handler body camera video from Bexar County, Texas. At approximately 1:00, the deputy's right hand is seen in the corner of the screen, gesturing. Alek Schott is suing the sheriff's office, saying that gesture prompted the dog to jump on the door, giving deputies the right to open the truck and search inside. No drugs were found. YouTube "These guys are trying to destroy my life"
Historically, that claim would have been nearly impossible to prove. But in this case, Schott requested and received the officers' body camera footage, giving him almost the same view the K-9 handler had — including the moment the handler's right hand made a gesture toward the attentive dog, which then jumped up on the pickup's door.
"It's clear to me that he's telling the dog to alert," Schott says. "I thought, 'These guys are trying to destroy my life.' "
| Arrests of Non-Whites vs. Non-White Population (2021) | ||||
| A comparision of the Census Population data to arrests data in New York. | ||||
| County | Arrests of Non-Whites | Non-White, Non-Incarcerated Population | Absolute Difference | Percent Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany | 53.8% | 31.7% | 22.1% | 69.6% |
| Allegany | 12.0% | 8.4% | 3.6% | 43.2% |
| Bronx | 96.1% | 85.9% | 10.2% | 11.8% |
| Broome | 34.7% | 20.2% | 14.5% | 71.7% |
| Cattaraugus | 22.2% | 11.6% | 10.6% | 91.4% |
| Cayuga | 23.6% | 10.6% | 13.0% | 121.9% |
| Chautauqua | 27.3% | 14.2% | 13.1% | 92.4% |
| Chemung | 27.0% | 15.1% | 12.0% | 79.5% |
| Chenango | 5.2% | 7.8% | −2.6% | −33.5% |
| Clinton | 16.3% | 10.2% | 6.1% | 59.4% |
| Columbia | 31.5% | 16.3% | 15.2% | 93.1% |
| Cortland | 18.1% | 11.9% | 6.3% | 52.7% |
| Delaware | 14.2% | 10.9% | 3.2% | 29.6% |
| Dutchess | 46.8% | 29.4% | 17.5% | 59.4% |
| Erie | 52.9% | 27.3% | 25.6% | 93.6% |
| Essex | 4.9% | 8.5% | −3.6% | −42.8% |
| Franklin | 20.5% | 14.6% | 5.9% | 40.1% |
| Fulton | 14.8% | 10.0% | 4.8% | 48.3% |
| Genesee | 25.1% | 11.8% | 13.3% | 112.8% |
| Greene | 25.2% | 12.9% | 12.3% | 95.6% |
| Hamilton | 0.0% | 6.3% | −6.3% | −100.0% |
| Herkimer | 14.6% | 8.1% | 6.5% | 79.9% |
| Jefferson | 21.4% | 17.1% | 4.3% | 25.4% |
| Kings | 87.0% | 62.5% | 24.6% | 39.3% |
| Lewis | 3.2% | 5.5% | −2.3% | −42.5% |
| Livingston | 17.1% | 9.7% | 7.3% | 75.1% |
| Madison | 13.4% | 9.6% | 3.8% | 40.0% |
| Monroe | 65.1% | 31.6% | 33.5% | 106.3% |
| Montgomery | 38.4% | 18.9% | 19.5% | 103.2% |
| Nassau | 69.0% | 41.5% | 27.5% | 66.3% |
| New York | 86.8% | 50.0% | 36.8% | 73.5% |
| Niagara | 40.6% | 17.4% | 23.2% | 133.0% |
| Oneida | 40.7% | 19.8% | 21.0% | 106.0% |
| Onondaga | 53.3% | 26.0% | 27.3% | 104.8% |
| Ontario | 31.1% | 12.1% | 18.9% | 156.0% |
| Orange | 58.7% | 38.2% | 20.5% | 53.6% |
| Orleans | 23.8% | 12.6% | 11.2% | 89.2% |
| Oswego | 13.1% | 8.7% | 4.3% | 49.6% |
| Otsego | 14.3% | 10.5% | 3.8% | 36.4% |
| Putnam | 40.5% | 22.8% | 17.7% | 77.4% |
| Queens | 88.6% | 74.2% | 14.4% | 19.4% |
| Rensselaer | 41.7% | 21.4% | 20.3% | 94.7% |
| Richmond | 68.1% | 40.4% | 27.6% | 68.4% |
| Rockland | 68.1% | 36.5% | 31.6% | 86.6% |
| Saratoga | 16.7% | 12.4% | 4.3% | 34.3% |
| Schenectady | 57.5% | 32.2% | 25.4% | 78.9% |
| Schoharie | 11.2% | 8.8% | 2.5% | 28.1% |
| Schuyler | 8.5% | 6.4% | 2.0% | 31.5% |
| Seneca | 21.0% | 9.4% | 11.6% | 123.4% |
| St. Lawrence | 11.0% | 9.0% | 2.0% | 21.8% |
| Steuben | 13.0% | 9.2% | 3.8% | 40.9% |
| Suffolk | 55.6% | 33.0% | 22.6% | 68.5% |
| Sullivan | 43.9% | 28.1% | 15.8% | 56.4% |
| Tioga | 7.9% | 8.1% | −0.2% | −2.4% |
| Tompkins | 36.4% | 25.6% | 10.8% | 42.1% |
| Ulster | 37.4% | 21.3% | 16.0% | 75.2% |
| Warren | 11.6% | 8.9% | 2.7% | 30.4% |
| Washington | 12.0% | 7.7% | 4.3% | 55.7% |
| Wayne | 28.4% | 11.9% | 16.5% | 138.7% |
| Westchester | 79.6% | 46.9% | 32.7% | 69.8% |
| Wyoming | 19.4% | 6.2% | 13.2% | 211.2% |
| Yates | 10.2% | 6.1% | 4.1% | 67.9% |
| Andy Arthur, 1/31/23. Data Sources: 2020 Adjusted Population, Adjusted to Move Incarcerated Individuals to Arrest Location. LATFOR. latfor.state.ny.us/data/?sec=2020amendpop Adult Arrest Demographics for 2021. DCJS. criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa/adult-arrest-demographics/2021/index.html |
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The FBI annualized collection of data from law enforcement agencies saw 7,262 crimes motivated by race, religion, gender or other factors last year. That's a decrease from 8,263 incidents in 2020. But those numbers offer misleading conclusions as they are drawn from a pool of 3,255 fewer law enforcement agencies.
Only 11,883 agencies out of 18,812 city, state, municipal and tribal law enforcement agencies around the county sent data to the FBI, down from 15,138 in 2020.