After Major NYPD Policy Change, Brownsville Still Faces Violent Crime Surge

Neighborhood Once a Test Case for Drastic Crime Reform

Neighborhood Safety Alliance Copied Elsewhere, but Not All Are Impressed

BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN, April 25, 2024 -- Brownsville, located in east Brooklyn, has long been one of New York City's most dangerous neighborhoods. But even as crime rates reached record lows in the borough in recent years, Brownsville remained a violent outlier, with new statistics from the NYPD showing murders up more than 70% here over the past year.

The uptick in violence is so massive that officials are now looking for other neighborhoods to replicate the success of the Brownsville Safety Alliance, a group of neighborhood and city groups, police officers, and members of the Kings County District Attorney's office that was formed in 2014 to address the neighborhood's crime problem.

The Safety Alliance was part of a major NYPD policy change that removed NYPD details from their visible posts on Mother Gaston Boulevard, the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, and replaced them with community outreach workers. The policy change was controversial at the time, but it was credited with helping to reduce crime in Brownsville. However, the recent surge in violence has raised questions about whether the policy is still effective.

Brownsville is in the 6th percentile for safety, meaning 94% of neighborhoods are safer and 6% of neighborhoods are more dangerous. This analysis applies to Brownsville's proper boundaries only.