Staten Island Crime Rate

Thanks for visiting Federal Lawyers – managed by our lead attorney, a second-generation law firm with over 40 years of combined experience. Staten Island is New York City’s safest borough. Crime rate: 6.6 per 1,000 residents. That’s half the citywide average of 13.6. In 2024, Staten Island recorded just 3,453 crimes total – compare that to Brooklyn’s 30,753 or the Bronx’s 30,223. Staten Island represents only 2.5% of NYC’s total violent crimes despite housing nearly half a million people. So when you’re charged with a crime here, you’d expect prosecutors to recognize that Staten Island doesn’t have a crime crisis requiring aggressive enforcement, right?

Wrong. Prosecutors weaponize Staten Island’s safety. You threatened *the safest borough*. Residents here expect tranquility – your assault, your robbery, your drug possession disrupts that expectation. Where other boroughs cite high crime to justify harsh charging (“we need deterrence”), Staten Island prosecutors cite low crime to justify it (“we won’t tolerate threats to our safety”). At Federal Lawyers – we’ve seen this prosecutorial jujitsu repeatedly, turning Staten Island’s statistical safety into a rhetorical weapon against defendants who face charges that would barely register in the Bronx or Brooklyn.

The 129% Murder Increase Is Statistical Fraud

Headlines in fall 2023 screamed: “Staten Island murders up 129%!” Prosecutors love citing this number. Sounds terrifying. What they don’t mention – the baseline was so low that a 129% increase means going from, say, 7 murders to 16. In a borough of 490,000 people. The Bronx had over 100 murders in the same period. Brooklyn had similar numbers. But prosecutors charging you with murder in Staten Island won’t cite those comparisons, they’ll invoke the 129% increase as though Staten Island suddenly became a war zone requiring maximum sentences to restore order.

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Legal Scenario: What Would You Do?

Scenario

You live in a quiet Staten Island neighborhood and were recently arrested for shoplifting at the Staten Island Mall — your first offense ever. You're shocked because you always thought of your borough as low-crime, and now you're worried a misdemeanor conviction will show up on background checks and ruin your career.

Given that Staten Island has such low crime rates, will the court go easier on me for a first-time misdemeanor offense?

Attorney's Answer

While Staten Island's low crime rate of 6.6 per 1,000 residents reflects a generally safer community, sentencing decisions are based on the specific facts of your case and New York Penal Law — not borough-level statistics. For a first-time petit larceny charge under NY Penal Law § 155.25, you may be eligible for an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD) under Criminal Procedure Law § 170.55, which could result in the charge being dismissed entirely after six months. Staten Island's Richmond County Criminal Court does tend to handle a lower volume of cases than other boroughs, which can sometimes mean more individualized attention from prosecutors open to diversion programs. I strongly recommend retaining a criminal defense attorney immediately to negotiate the best possible outcome and protect your record.

This is general information only. Contact us for advice specific to your situation.

This is statistical malpractice. When baseline numbers are tiny, percentage increases are meaningless. A borough going from 2 rapes to 4 rapes shows a “100% increase” – sounds catastrophic until you realize we’re talking about 2 additional incidents across hundreds of thousands of people. Staten Island’s murder rate increased 46% since 2001. Again, scary percentage, but the absolute numbers remain dramatically lower than every other borough. Your defense can’t let prosecutors terrify juries with percentages divorced from context.

Rape Statistics and the 2024 Definition Change