County Executive George Latimer Reports Crime Trending Downward

In late June, County Executive George Latimer reported that all crime continues to be down in Westchester County.  Counting all four quarters of 2017-2021, crime in Westchester County has dropped significantly in all categories. Latimer said it all comes down to good police work and community connections. Latimer released the latest crime statistics in Ardsley, where crime has also dropped.

 “While other parts of the Country and State may be having issues with crime – Westchester County is making our downtowns and rural streets safer for the residents who call Westchester home.  This is a safe county, this will continue to be a safe county, and all the credit goes to the brave men and women in uniform who are driving crime down,” Latimer said.

The Westchester County Department of Public Safety compared 2017 through 2021 and saw a decrease across the board: 20.4% Decrease in Index Crimes; 22.9% Decrease in Violent Crimes–That includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; 16.7 % Decrease in Property Crimes–That includes burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. {Source: DCJS, Uniform Crime Reporting File}

Department of Public Safety Acting Commissioner Terrance Raynor added, “The Westchester County Police remain committed to working collaboratively with all local, state and federal partners to make a safe Westchester County even safer. We do so in multiple ways, from hosting the multi-agency Real Time Crime Center, to assigning personnel to joint task forces, to partnering with individual departments on a variety of investigations. By working together, we can continue to keep the people of Westchester safe.”

Latimer said, “Here in Westchester we pride ourselves on working together – across jurisdictional lines and across party lines – the result is a better more cohesive police response.  Our police are doing a remarkable job and I am incredibly proud of them.  People move to Westchester, and stay in Westchester, because Westchester County is safe. Crime is down -it’s been down and it will continue to be down.  Together we will fight to keep our streets safe.”

Ardsley Mayor Nancy Kaboolian said, “I am proud of our police officers and the work they do.  This was especially true during the pandemic when they were on the front line of exposure everyday while serving our Village.  The Village and department have been proactive in reviewing and implementing policies and procedure that promote transparency and community policing practices. I know that the residents of Ardsley feel very safe because of the good work of our police officers.    Their hard work has helped keep crime is down in Westchester County.”

County Public Safety credits the drop in crime to the work of the local municipalities, the collaborative efforts at the Real Time Crime Center and community policing.  The Westchester County Police Department operates a real-time crime center that includes automated license plate readers and artificial intelligence. The hub is where police collect and analyze surveillance, intelligence, and data from a number of sources in real-time. Every police agency in Westchester County is represented at the Real Time Crime Center.

2017 to 2021 Snapshot:

• Total crime, property crimes, violent crime are all down from when comparing 2017 to 2021.

• Crime generally dropped each year as compared the prior year, except in 2020.

• In 2020, there was a spike in property crime – and therefore total index crimes – as compared to the year before.  But the 2020 numbers for both total index crimes and property crimes was still less than the 2017 numbers.

• In 2020, violent crime was down as compared to the year before even as property crimes rose

• Violent crime dropped every year from 2017 to 2021 as compared to a prior year.