by Thomas Breen The New Haven independent
January to August violent crime stats, 2015 to 2025.
New Haven has seen 34 fewer bullets shot — and 30 fewer people injured by gunfire — so far this year compared to this time last year, even though the number of homicides has stayed the same.
The police chief and mayor pointed to those stats among others Wednesday afternoon at a press conference describing a decline in violent crime, particularly from its pandemic-era peak.
Police Chief Karl Jacobson, Mayor Justin Elicker, and Asst. Chief David Zannelli led that press conference, which was held on the third floor of police headquarters.
They presented data showing that there have been 8 homicides so far this year, compared to 8 at this time last year (a 0 percent change); 22 nonfatal shootings so far this year, compared to 52 at this time last year (a 57 percent change); and 65 confirmed shots fired so far this year, compared to 99 at this time last year (a 34 percent change).
Those decreases in violent crime are even more dramatic when compared to high points in 2021, when, at this same time, there were 18 homicides, 70 nonfatal shootings, and 209 confirmed shots fired.
“Although there is a national decrease in violent crime, I don’t think it’s to this effect,” Jacobson said.
Elicker agreed. “There is generally a trend down after Covid,” the mayor said, “but the numbers we’re seeing are way lower.”
When taking into account drops in robberies with firearms, reported rape cases, and assaults with firearm victims, among other stats, violent crime is down 46 percent so far this year compared to this time last year.
The mayor and police chief also pointed to a year-over-year drop in burglaries (303 at this time last year to 163 this year), motor vehicle thefts (581 to 406), and larceny from vehicles (465 to 332) as evidence of declines in more than just violent crime.
Speaking before a lineup of TV news cameras and reporters, the three used the presser as an opportunity to provide details on a few specific cases officers have been working on.
Those included the arrest of a 21-year-old man from Ansonia for allegedly shooting and injuring an innocent bystander on Crown Street at around 2:30 a.m. on July 26; the seizure of seven dirt bikes and ATVs and the issuance of municipal tickets to a handful of riders who were rumored to be heading to last weekend’s Puerto Rican fest on the Green; the issuance of two $1,000 fines on Saturday and Sunday to people blasting illegally loud music on Long Wharf; and the rape of a 13-year-old in the Hill Wednesday morning, followed by the arrest of the alleged assailant. (Jacobson declined to provide further information on that last case at this time; more details to come.)
Jacobson and Elicker spent most of the press conference, however, painting a broader picture of a safer city — as borne out by the data, especially regarding confirmed shots fired.
Anytime someone is injured by gunfire, Jacobson said, that nonfatal shooting could become a homicide, depending on where they were shot, if they get to the hospital quickly, and a number of other factors.
“The biggest thing though, I would say, is getting that confirmed shots [number] down,” he said, “because there’s the potential to have less people shot and killed.” If the department continues to drive that number of shots fired down, he predicted “a lot better number at the end of the year” in regards to the number of homicides and nonfatal shooting injuries citywide.
“The biggest thing is getting that confirmed shots fired number down,” Jacobson repeated, “and we’re doing that.”
Jacobson and Elicker credited a number of initiatives for driving citywide violent crime numbers down: morning intel meetings at the police department that bring together New Haven cops with their counterparts in East Haven, Hamden, West Haven, and federal government to talk about crime trends in the Greater New Haven area; close collaborations with the city’s Youth and Recreation Department, with Project Longevity and Project Safe Neighborhoods, with CT VIP violence prevention workers; the deployment of hundreds of new publicly owned cameras across the city, as well as the use of StarChase and stop sticks to stop fleeing cars.
“This is a holistic approach to crime,” Jacobson said.
And how does he explain the drop in the number of confirmed shots fired, in particular? Are there fewer guns on the street now than in recent years?
“It revolves around what our priorities are,” Jacobson replied. He noted that, with the city’s shooting task force, the department has prioritized going after “shots-fired situations. We focus more attention on shots-fired situations than before.”
That leads to the seizure of more guns, and then to more gun-related arrests.
Jacobson said that there have been more guns seized by the police department since 2022 than at any other time in the last decade. That means fewer guns on the street. Elicker also pointed out that a relatively small number of people are responsible for a lot of gun violence in the city; recent inter-agency efforts to arrest a crew of Exit 8 gang members, for example, have gotten repeat offenders off the street.
“When you’re seizing 300 guns and making arrests based on those a year,” Jacobson said, “you’re gonna have a good result.”