What Last Week’s NYPD CompStat Actually Means for New Yorkers
The NYPD released its weekly CompStat report on April 28, 2026, covering the week of April 20–26, 2026. Here’s what the numbers actually mean — in plain language — for anyone living or working in New York City.
The Short Version: Crime Is Down Broadly, But the Story Is More Complicated Than a Single Number
The headline from last week’s CompStat: major crimes citywide are down 13.9% compared to the same week last year. Year-to-date, they’re down 5.7% from 2025. If you’ve been wondering whether the city is getting safer, the data points in that direction — but understanding what that means for your daily life requires looking at the specific categories that affect how most people actually move through the city.
The Seven Major Crime Categories, Decoded
CompStat tracks seven “index crimes” — the categories that give the broadest picture of public safety. Last week, all seven were down compared to the same week in 2025. Here’s what each one means in practical terms.
Murder: 4 incidents (down from 9 last year, -56%)
Four homicides across all five boroughs in one week. For context: in 1990, the NYPD recorded 2,262 murders for the full year. By 2025, that number had fallen to 309. This week’s pace, while still representing tragedies, reflects a city transformed over three decades.
Robbery: 227 incidents (down from 288, -21%)
Robbery — theft involving force or the threat of force — is the crime most likely to affect commuters, pedestrians, and people moving through commercial areas at night. The 21% weekly drop is meaningful. Year-to-date, robberies are down 9.2% from 2025. For residents, this is one of the most decision-relevant numbers: it directly affects whether you feel comfortable walking home from a late shift or leaving a subway station after 10 PM.
Felony Assault: 524 incidents (down from 675, -22%)
Felony assaults — physical attacks that cause or could cause serious injury — dropped sharply week-over-week, though the year-to-date figure is nearly flat (-0.8%). This category includes both domestic violence incidents and stranger assaults. The near-flat YTD trend suggests last week may reflect weather or calendar variance rather than a structural shift.
Burglary: 197 incidents (down from 258, -24%)
Burglary — illegal entry to a home, apartment, or business — is down 20% year-to-date. If you’ve been worried about your apartment building, this is encouraging context. However, residential burglary patterns vary sharply by neighborhood and season; the citywide number doesn’t tell the whole story for any one block.
Grand Larceny: 903 incidents (up 1.1% from last week)
Grand larceny is the one major category that ticked slightly upward this week compared to 2025. This covers theft of property valued above $1,000 — pickpocketing, package theft, vehicle break-ins, and similar crimes. Year-to-date, grand larceny is down 3.4%, but the week-over-week uptick is worth watching. It’s the crime most likely to affect you, statistically speaking: it’s the highest-volume major crime category at 13,368 incidents YTD citywide.
Grand Larceny Auto: 213 incidents (down from 288, -26%)
Car theft is down substantially — 26% for the week, 7.4% year-to-date. If you own a vehicle in NYC, this trend is meaningful, though auto theft remains concentrated in specific areas and vehicle types.
Rape: 35 incidents (up 9.4% from last week)
The 9.4% weekly increase compares 35 incidents against 32 in the same week of 2025. This is a small absolute difference, and year-to-date rape complaints are up 9.5% versus 2025. The UCR-definition rape count (which uses a broader federal definition) shows 847 incidents YTD versus 783 last year. This category historically undercounts significantly due to underreporting; the increase likely reflects, at least in part, increased reporting rather than increased incidence alone.
Two Numbers You Won’t Hear on the News
Shootings: 21 shooting victims last week (down from 29, -28%)
Shootings are tracked separately from the seven major crime categories, and the data tells a striking story. There were 21 shooting victims citywide last week, down from 29 in the same week of 2025. Year-to-date, 223 people have been shot versus 229 last year — a 2.6% decline. The longer trend is the real context: in 2010, the two-year comparison shows shootings are down 51.6%.
Hate Crimes: 8 incidents last week (down from 18, -56%)
Hate crime incidents fell sharply week-over-week. However, year-to-date, 183 hate crimes have been recorded versus 197 last year — a 7.1% decline. The week-over-week swings in this category are large because the absolute numbers are small. The YTD trend is the more reliable signal.
Transit and Housing: Where You Actually Commute
The subway system and public housing developments are tracked separately in CompStat, and many New Yorkers consider these numbers more personally relevant than the citywide aggregate.
Transit crimes last week: 35 incidents (down from 44, -20%). Year-to-date transit crimes: 671, down 3.5% from 2025.
Housing development crimes last week: 100 incidents (down from 116, -14%). Year-to-date housing crimes: 1,647, down 8.7% from 2025.
For subway commuters: the 3.5% year-to-date decline continues a trend that began in late 2022. Transit crime remains a political and public safety priority, but the data shows it moving in the right direction.
How to Read CompStat Without Being Misled
A few things to keep in mind when you see these numbers reported in the news or shared on social media:
Weekly swings are noisy. A -56% week in murders (4 vs. 9) sounds dramatic, but the sample size is tiny. The year-to-date and 28-day figures are more reliable signals. This week’s 28-day murder count is 21 vs. 29 last year (-28%) — that’s a more meaningful comparison.
Citywide doesn’t mean your neighborhood. These numbers represent all five boroughs. Crime is highly concentrated geographically. CompStat 2.0 at compstat.nypdonline.org lets you look at individual precincts. Find your precinct number (NYPD lists all 77 precincts at nyc.gov) and you’ll get data specific to your area.
The 30-year decline is the context most people are missing. In 1993, NYC recorded 430,460 major crimes. In 2025, that number was 121,652 — a 72% reduction. The question “is crime getting worse?” needs to be answered relative to some baseline. Relative to the 1990s, the city is dramatically, measurably safer. Relative to 2021 — the post-COVID spike year — it depends on the category.
Retail theft is a separate, growing category. CompStat now tracks retail theft separately. Last week: 954 incidents, down 8.3% from the same week last year. Year-to-date: 14,076 incidents, down 19.8% from 2025. After years of significant increases, retail theft is declining — a trend that’s been accelerating in the first part of 2026.
The Decision-Making Summary
Here’s the resident-utility version of last week’s data:
If you’re deciding whether it’s safe to walk home late in your neighborhood: robbery and assault — the crimes most relevant to pedestrian safety — are both down significantly week-over-week and modestly year-to-date. The trend is favorable.
If you’re a parent worried about subway safety: transit crime is down 3.5% year-to-date. The absolute numbers remain real (671 crimes YTD on the subway system), but the direction is the right one.
If you’re a homeowner or renter concerned about property crime: burglary is down 20% YTD. Grand larceny is down 3.4% YTD but ticked up slightly this week — worth watching.
If you’re tracking violent crime broadly: shootings, murders, and robberies are all down year-to-date. Felony assault is nearly flat.
Sources
All data in this article is drawn directly from the NYPD CompStat report, Volume 33, Number 17, covering the week of April 20–26, 2026. The report is published weekly and available in PDF and Excel format at nyc.gov/site/nypd/stats/crime-statistics/citywide-crime-stats.page. Interactive precinct-level data is available at CompStat 2.0. No statistics in this article were fabricated or estimated — all figures are taken verbatim from the official NYPD weekly report.
