Over the last month, New York’s Central Park has seen a string of robberies. Compared to 2023, NYPD explains, robberies here have increased by 200%. While this alone isn’t great for the tourist attraction, what makes it scarier is that many of the more recent crimes are being committed by minors.
One robbery in particular was done by a group of children, one as young as 11, who had surrounded a tourist and stole his wallet. Police saw the 11-year-old “using a stolen credit card at a fast-food restaurant” and it was later confirmed that it was one of the cards from the Central Park robberies.
The eleven-year-old, as well as two suspects arrested for a robbery on Tuesday, were discovered to be residing in migrant shelters.
While, thankfully, none of the robberies have led to injuries yet, the NYPD is still taking the events seriously. Shedding more details on the crimes, Assistant Chief Jason Savino of the NYPD Detectives Bureau said that the groups often consist of “eight to 12 young males approaching victims in the park, robbing them by force of whatever they can take”.
Most robberies have been seen in the southernmost part of the park, below 65th Street. Speaking on this, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said:
“Southern part of the park, we see a lot of robberies, group robberies, young kids, mugging people or taking their property”.
Concerned for the safety of New York residents and tourists alike, the NYPD knew something had to be done to stop any future robberies from occurring.
Their solution? Upping police presence in the park! Starting Wednesday afternoon, officers on modes of transportation including scooters, horseback, and bicycles have moved into Central Park to ensure the law is upheld.
According to ABC7 NY, NYPD has a project they plan to finish by the end of the month: deploying drones in Central Park. Able to respond to any incident in less than 60 seconds, the drones can keep tabs on any crimes in record time, tracking suspects until police officers arrive.
Until the drones are ready, Central Park will have 40 extra police officers on nightly patrols after 7 p.m.
So, to anyone considering robbing someone in Central Park, think again. The NYPD is there and ready to keep park-goers safe.
