Queens Crime Rate

Thanks for visiting Federal Lawyers – managed by our lead attorney, a second-generation law firm with over 40 years of combined experience defending clients across Queens and New York City. Queens presents a statistically complicated picture in 2025. Overall, Queens maintains one of the lower murder rates among NYC boroughs – **21 murders per million people in 2024**, down from 27 in 2019. The risk of being murdered in the Bronx is four times higher than in Queens. Early 2025 data shows a 19% decrease in most crime categories borough-wide. But these overall improvements mask troubling neighborhood-specific increases: South Queens felony assaults surged 26.6% in 2024, shooting victims rose 62.5%, and Queens North shootings spiked 133% in early 2025.

When you’re charged with a crime in Queens, prosecutors cherry-pick whichever statistics support aggressive charging. Arrested in South Queens? They cite the 26.6% felony assault increase. Arrested in Queens North? They reference the 133% shooting spike. Arrested in Forest Hills or Bayside? They argue your conduct threatens safe neighborhoods that “don’t tolerate crime.” Overall borough improvements don’t reduce prosecutorial aggression – they claim credit for declining numbers while maintaining harsh charging practices justified by neighborhood-specific increases. Defense requires exposing this statistical manipulation and forcing prosecutors to prove your guilt, not Queens’ crime trends.

Overall Decline Masks Neighborhood Spikes

Queens’ overall crime rate sits around 20-32 crimes per 1,000 residents, with violent crime at 4 per 1,000 and property crime at 16-17 per 1,000. These numbers place Queens among NYC’s safer boroughs. In 2023, murders fell 11% and shooting incidents dropped 26% in Queens. Through 2024, Queens remained “statistically level” in total major crimes, with overall borough-wide improvements. But aggregate data conceals dramatic neighborhood variation:

• **South Queens felony assaults:** Up 26.6% in 2024, with over 500 incidents reported.
• **South Queens shooting victims:** Increased 62.5% compared to 2024.
• **Queens North shootings:** Spiked 133% in early 2025 – from 3 shootings in the same period in 2024 to 7 in 2025.
• **North Queens felony assaults:** 521 incidents through March 2024, reflecting a 9.4% increase year-over-year.

Prosecutors weaponize these neighborhood spikes. If you’re charged with assault in South Queens, they cite the 26.6% increase as evidence that your conduct contributes to a dangerous trend requiring maximum sentences. If you’re charged with a shooting-related offense in Queens North, they invoke the 133% spike to argue you’re part of an escalating violence problem. The fact that Queens overall experienced crime declines doesn’t matter – prosecutors focus on micro-level increases affecting the specific area where you were arrested.

At Federal Lawyers – we challenge prosecutorial narratives that substitute neighborhood crime trends for evidence of your individual guilt. Crime statistics measure thousands of incidents. Your case involves one. Prosecutors must prove you committed the specific offense charged, not that your neighborhood experienced crime increases during the relevant period.

DEFENSE TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Todd Spodek

Lead Attorney & Founder

Featured on Netflix's "Inventing Anna," Todd Spodek brings decades of high-stakes criminal defense experience. His aggressive approach has secured dismissals and acquittals in cases others deemed unwinnable.

NY Bar Admitted Multi-State Licensed Federal Courts

Meet the Full Team

Legal Scenario: What Would You Do?

Scenario

You live in a Queens neighborhood where crime rates have recently shifted, and police have increased patrols and stop-and-question encounters. During one of these encounters, officers stopped you on the street, searched your bag without your consent, and arrested you for possessing a small pocket knife they claimed was an illegal gravity knife.

Can the police just stop and search me on the street in Queens without my permission, and is carrying a pocket knife really a crime?

Attorney's Answer

Under the Fourth Amendment and New York's CPL § 140.50, police need reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to stop you and probable cause to conduct a search — simply being in a high-crime area is not enough on its own, as established in Florida v. J.L. and reinforced by New York courts. New York actually repealed its gravity knife ban in 2019 by amending Penal Law § 265.01, so many pocket knives that previously led to arrests in Queens are now perfectly legal to carry. If officers lacked reasonable suspicion for the stop or conducted an unlawful search, any evidence recovered can be suppressed under the exclusionary rule through a Mapp hearing. Given the shifting enforcement patterns across Queens precincts, an experienced criminal defense attorney can examine the specific circumstances of your stop and build a strong suppression motion.

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

2025 Shooting Data Contradicts Citywide Narrative

Citywide, New York experienced record-low shootings and murders in early 2025. NYPD announced historic reductions across most boroughs. But Queens tells a different story – **shooting victims rose borough-wide by 21% in early 2025**, even though shooting incidents fell 12.5%. This paradox occurs when fewer shooting incidents produce more casualties (multiple victims per incident), suggesting more brazen or reckless shootings.