Above all else you can't deny reality. The rate of violent crimes per 1,000 people in the Bronx is 5.16. These crimes include rape, murder assault, and robbery. The rate of violent crimes per 1,000 people in the United States is 2.91. There are 1,247 violent crimes per square mile annually in the Bronx, compared against the 175 violent crimes per square mile in the U.S.This past summer was one of the most violent summers in the Bronx. on August 9th emergency medical services responded to almost 1,000 calls that day alone. Eight people were shot and killed in the borough one Friday night, August 13, and fourteen people were shot in the BX the previous Friday night.
"If you had more than a dozen people shot and wounded in Manhattan on a single night, there would be an outrage. When it happens in the bronx, it doesn't cause much of a fuss at City Hall," said EMS Division Chief James Booth.
"They're shooting a lot, spraying, popping rounds. They'll hit someone a half a block away," said Booth.
Since the summer of 1990, when crime rates began to soar, EMS has decreased the time it takes to respond to a trauma case from 8 minutes, 4 seconds to 6 minutes, 49 seconds.
Having lived in the Bronx during the notorious summer of 2010, I can definitely attest to seeing quite a few things. Anything from witnessing on the street arrests, to physically walking through a police barricade without realizing it (also a testament to my absent minded-ness). I've had cops break down my neighbor's door after a call for a domestic dispute went awry, and not even blinking an eye when four or five NYPD cars race down Fordham Road. As much as I love the Bronx for all its quirkiness, it definitely is not a borough for the faint of heart.
I've never spent a summer in the Bronx. I don't know if that is thankfully or regrettable. But if I look @ it from a safety standpoint, those numbers of people getting shot are just insane!
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