Is Staten Island getting safer? 2024 crime analysis shows significant gains

New York’s Staten Island. It’s no secret that Staten Island saw a rise in crime in 2023.

But 2024 turned out to be an entirely different situation.

Crime reported in the borough between January 1 and December 8 decreased by about 10% compared to the same period last year, according to NYPD CompStat data.

However, is it realistic to expect even lower crime in 2025? The monthly crime data for our municipality show a consistent declining trend.

It will be interesting to watch if that trend continues into the new year.

The city’s crime rate is determined by aggregating the number of reports of the seven major crimes—murder, rape, robbery, burglary, felony assault, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto.

Staten Island’s crime index had been typically declining between 2000 and 2020. CompStat data, however, show that a surge started during the epidemic and peaked in 2023.

In 2024, things started to change for Staten Island. As of December 8, 3,238 crimes had been registered in our borough.

For the same time frame, that number was 3,559 in 2023, 3,174 in 2022, 2,359 in 2021, and 2,332 in 2020.

With 2,297 recorded incidents in 2019, crime on Staten Island reached a historic low.

According to CompStat data, the 2024 number represents a 41% increase from 2019 but a 9% decline from 2023.

Monthly breakdown

According to a monthly analysis of the statistics, the borough’s crime rate increased sharply between January and March 2024, but it tended to decline from May to November.

The statistics show that there were 255 recorded crimes in January to start the year. Crime rose to 292 in the subsequent month. Crime increased by 8% between February and March (292 v. 316).

But there was a 14% decline in April (272 vs. 316).

Crime rose 21% between April and May (328 v. 272) and stayed mostly constant during the summer.

According to data, a declining trend began to emerge in July. Although, crime increased from August to September, September s crime numbers (311) were still lower than those reported in March (316), May (328) and June (328).

There were fewer than 300 crimes in October and November.

Since December had not yet ended at the time of publication, it is not included in this analysis.

Positive trends

The drop in overall crime in 2024 is credited to reductions in six of the seven major index crime categories murder, robbery, felony assault, grand larceny, grand larceny auto, and burglary as well as the diminution of shootings boroughwide, CompStat data shows.

What s behind it?

In order to combat car theft and burglaries in particular, police implemented a tactical shift at the end of the summer of 2023 under the direction of Assistant Chief Joseph Gulotta, who was the borough commander of the NYPD at the time. This involved creating a complex, multi-state, multi-agency system to collect and analyze intelligence.

You could definitely feel that crime was up, your neighbors felt it, and everyone you spoke to felt it, Gulotta told the Advance/SILive.com in 2023. I was fortunate enough to be placed out here, where you kind of have a chance to reduce crime and do good in your own neighborhood.

His successor, Assistant Chief Melissa Eger, who took over in the fall,vowed to continue the work on that front while also targeting retail theft.

Staten Island saw a concerning increase in one crime category this year.

Rape rose by 20 reported incidents, or 50%.

Through Dec. 8, there were 60 rapes reported in 2024 compared to 40 in 2023. However, there was a decrease in other sex crimes, as the borough saw 189 in that category in 2024 compared to 202 in 2023.

Police said there were nine homicides boroughwide in 2024, which is a 53% decrease compared to 2023, when there were 19.

The homicide figure represents a six-year low for Staten Island, as one would have to go back to 2018, when eight were reported through Dec. 8, to beat it.

Six of the nine people (67%) lost to homicide through Dec. 8 this year were stabbed to death, while one person each lost their life to gun violence, strangulation and malnourishment, authorities said.

Robbery fell by 6% (283 v. 301); felony assault decreased by 5% (877 v. 922); burglary dropped by 6% (324 v. 344); grand larceny shrunk by 9% (1,363 v. 1,505); and grand larceny auto was reduced by 25% (322 v. 428).

Shootings

Thus far, 14 fewer people were shot on Staten Island this year through Dec. 8, compared to the same time period last year. The NYPD recorded 15 shooting victims, whereas that figure was 29 through the same time in 2023; a 48% reduction.

In fact, those 15 shooting victims mark the lowest figure listed for Staten Island in the CompStat system, which goes back to 1993.

Of the 15 shooting victims in 2024, one was killed.

Much work to do

When asked about the boroughwide drop in crime, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said that although the decrease is encouraging, now is not the time for a victory lap.

While there remains much work to do to fully restore public safety, all Staten Islanders should be encouraged by the near double digit decrease in reported crime so far this year in our borough. While now is not the time for a victory lap, the Staten Island Approach to crimefighting is working, McMahon said. By working in partnership with the NYPD, the men and women of my office remain laser-focused on holding dangerous criminals and recidivists accountable in the courtroom, diverting those with serious mental health and addiction illness into life-saving treatment and rehabilitation programs, and securing justice for the victims of crime.

Staten Island s top prosecutor also noted the stiffer penalties that criminals are facing on the borough.

The drivers of crime here on Staten Island are facing serious consequences in the courtroom and as a result, it should come as no surprise that our borough is recording significant decreases in murders, shootings, and stolen vehicles so far this year, McMahon said.

Despite what McMahon said was a lack of police staffing and ludicrous laws from Albany, he said Staten Island remains the safest borough in all of New York City and the safest community of 500,000 residents in the country.

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