New York subway attack comes on the heels of increased violence in the city’s transportation

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The shooting at a New York subway station, in the United States, this Tuesday (12), which left at least 13 people injured, takes place amid a scenario of increasing violence in the American city’s subway system, which has already pressured local authorities for measures to promote public safety.

A report released by the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) in January shows that murders in this environment grew 33% in 2021 compared to the previous year.

Eight people were killed on the New York subway in the last year, two more than in 2020. The figure is the highest since 2005, when five were murdered. An even more expressive number is the number of assaults: 461 were reported in 2021, 30 of which were victims pushed onto the tracks. The data shows an increase of 30% in relation to the previous year and is the highest since 1998, when 418 aggressions were recorded.

A day, 4.8 episodes of violence occurred on stations in the most populous city in the US. The account includes murders and assaults, as well as cases of robbery and rape. At least eight people were sexually abused on the subway system, and 529 were robbed.

Another calculation produced by the MTA and published by the American newspaper The New York Times illustrates that, in the first three months of 2021 alone, there were 1.63 violent crimes on the subway for every million passengers. The number is higher than the rate of 1.48 crime per million passengers in the same period of 2020 and even higher than the average of 1 crime per million in the first quarter of 2019.

Experts, however, point out that the increase in the number of passengers in the last year, when health restrictions to contain the pandemic were relaxed, must be taken into account when analyzing the growth of violence in public transport.

John DeCarlo, a criminologist at the University of New Haven, Connecticut, told Business Insider news website that rising vaccination rates and a return to face-to-face work must be balanced. “The number of passengers is higher, and in criminology, one of the most important factors is population density. If there are more people, there will be more crimes.”

About 78% of New York residents have already completed their first vaccination course, according to updated official data. Among adults, the share of people with a single dose or two doses reaches 87.5%. Among children, it is at 58%. About 37% of the local population has also received a booster dose of the immunizer.

Violence on public transport has turned into yet another problem that the city’s mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, has to deal with in the early months of his administration. The second black mayor to rule the city, he promised to promote partnerships between police and mental health professionals to mitigate what he called a disruption to the subway system.

The Democrat, a former New York police captain, also announced in January a larger package described as a plan to end gun violence in New York. The measure involves sending additional teams of public agents to 30 of the city’s 77 police stations.

New York recorded 488 murders last year, up 5.6% from 2020. Shootings, which totaled 1,532 in 2020 – double the number of the previous year – increased by 2% in 2021, according to the latest statistics. of the city.

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