NYPD points to record-low July shootings

The NYPD says July shootings fell to a record low, with Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri calling the month the most impressive he has seen in his 33 years on the job. The NYPD shootings decline came even as the department handled a heavy calendar of major city events.

LiPetri told The Post that there were 57 shootings in July, down 24 percent from 75 in the same month a year earlier. He said he told Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch that the figure stood out as the strongest shooting result he has seen since the CompStat system began tracking crime patterns in the city.

LiPetri linked the drop to the department’s 73 violence reduction zones, which are designed to concentrate officers in areas where crime clusters, even when those locations cross precinct lines. He said the NYPD kept those posts staffed through the month, with officers walking foot posts and maintaining coverage seven days a week during the key hours when violence tends to spike.

That deployment continued despite what LiPetri described as “massive logistical demands” from Sail 250, Fourth of July celebrations, the FIFA World Cup, and the Knicks’ NBA championship win and ticker-tape parade. He said the department did not pull officers away from the violence reduction zones, and kept a steady presence in place.