Thread by @Joelsberg

.@AliWatkins @jeffreyesinger @nytimes @homeless_law @Ntl_Homeless . @NYHomeless @davidminpdx @ScottHech @MaryBrosnahan @homeless_hero Please read this thread about whether its accurate, as the NY Times just claimed, that its “common” for unhoused people in NYC to commit murder.

Exact NY Times quote from today’s article: “a pattern that has become an unsettlingly common feature of the pandemic in New York City: a seemingly unprovoked attack in which the person charged is a homeless man.” Of course, every murder is horrific, but is this “common?” No.

The number of reported murders in NYC overall were 2,262 in 1990, 462 in 2020, 488 in 2021, and 47 so far in 2022. The number of reported felony assaults in NYC overall were 44,122 in 1990, 20,561 in 2020, 22,835 in 2021, and 2,546 so far in 2022.

It’s also vital to note that, in 1990, NYC had a population of 7.3 million, compared to about 8.8 million today. Thus, per capita, the reduction in crime in NYC since 1990 was even greater than in the raw numbers.

I again state for the record that I think every one of these crimes were horrendous.

But I’d bet a lot of money that only a small percentage of those murders and assaults were committed by people who were unhoused. I very much doubt the NY Times has any data to prove otherwise.

The Associated Press recently reported that police departments in New York City, Chicago, Honolulu, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. don’t even track the housing status of homicide victims and suspects.

The Associated Press did find that, in Los Angeles in 2021, only 43 of the city’s 397 homicides, only 11 percent, were committed by unhoused people. When something is 11 percent of a total, I doubt fair minded people would describe that as “common.”

The Associated Press also reported this: “With rare exceptions, the murder of a homeless person receives scant attention, while the killings in which they are the alleged suspects often garner headlines.” Kudos to the Associated Press for reporting those salient facts.

“People’s deaths should be important,’ said Donald Whitehead Jr. of the National Coalition for the Homeless. “We should be mourning the loss of life, whether the person is in a suite in an executive building or if they’re in an encampment because they’re homeless’.” I agree 100 %

But there is also a broader question about the NYC media’s fearmongering about crime overall. Once again, let me be clear that every murder and every assault is one too many. Statistics alone don’t account for the grievous pain and loss for people, families, and communities.

That being said, given that murders in NYC were 4.6 time as common & felony assaults were 1.9 times as common in 1990 as in 2021 – even though the overall population was far smaller in 1990s, is it fair to say that murder is “unsettlingly common” in NYC today? I think not.

In contrast, in Philadelphia, in 2021, there were 559 murders, significantly more than in NYC, even though NYC’s population was nearly six times that of Philadelphia.

If violent crime overall isn’t “common” in NYC today, then violent crimes committed by people who are unhoused certainly isn’t. The NY Times and all media should do better.