Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose reputation of being soft on crime and not prosecuting the most violent criminals, admitted that even he gets “a knot” in his stomach when members of his family take the train in New York City.
The DA was interviewed recently by FOX 5 New York about NYPD crime statistics that show hard crimes like shootings, murders and robberies decreased in numbers during the first six months of the year, with shootings dropping 24%, and murders decreasing by 3%.
He credited the decrease to daily communication between his team and law enforcement officials.
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Bragg also said prosecutors and police conduct long-term investigations involving wire taps, and targeted enforcement. As a result, the DA’s office and NYPD are seeing returns on their investigative work.
Overall, in the first six months of the year, major crime in the subway has decreased 4.4% compared to the same period last year.
But the statistics also showed major crimes in the transit system increased 18.2% last month, with 195 incidents last month compared to 165 during the same period last year.
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“I know the statistics that transit crime is down, but when one of my family members gets on the train, I, too, get a knot in my stomach,” the DA told the news station.
Bragg acknowledged that the signs were encouraging and the statistics on crime across the city were moving in the right direction.
Still, he said more can be done.
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“I live here, I’m raising my family here, so we have a lot more work to do,” Bragg told the news station.
The top Manhattan prosecutor was elected as a reform-minded DA. He has repeatedly been criticized for letting murderers and abusive individuals off the hook.
Bragg’s also been ridiculed for cutting a sweetheart deal with a career criminal who went on to punch a woman randomly; his slap on the wrist for a man who viciously assaulted a 55-year-old nurse; and jailing, yet ultimately releasing, the bodega owner who killed an aggressive ex-convict who attacked him on murder charges.
During his first year as the top prosecutor in 2022, Bragg downgraded over half of the felony cases to misdemeanors.
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He campaigned on criminal justice reform and sent a memo to staff on “Day One” to downgrade certain felonies like armed robberies of commercial businesses. The move came when crimes were up 27.6% in New York City.
Emma Colton of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.