New York Police Department Arrest Data Visualization

New York University Stern School of Business

            New York Police Department
             Arrest Data Visualization
                    Project 1: Exploring Arrest Data Insights Using Tableau

Image of a NYPD vehicle in action from ABC News (additional details in references)

                                              James Park
                                              7-12-2020

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 2
   Analysis Objective................................................................................................................................... 2
   Data Description...................................................................................................................................... 2
   Target Audiences .................................................................................................................................... 2
Analysis ........................................................................................................................................................ 2
   How have the total arrests been over the last decade? ........................................................................ 2
   But aren’t there still significant number of arrests?............................................................................ 3
   What are the demographics and the types of these arrests? ............................................................... 3
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 5
References .................................................................................................................................................... 6

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton on the left and Mayor Bill de Blasio on the right (additional details in reference)

Introduction

Analysis Objective
There are approximately 36,000 police officers working trying to make New York City a safer place. To
do so, arrests are made to possibly prevent further crimes and damages to people and infrastructures.

To understand the arrests better, the historical data of all arrests in New York City boroughs from January
2006 to May 2019 were pulled. Possible discussions can include, can decreasing the funding of NYPD
contribute to less arrests or what should the educational leaders do to prevent more arrests and less
conviction?

Data Description
Data were extracted from the United States government’s website – Data.gov. There was the City of New
York section which provided the NYPD arrests data that are constantly updated. The records hold total of
over 5 million arrests which include total crimes by time, boroughs, race, offense, and age.

Target Audiences
Target audiences include the people who are arrested and the public such as teachers, schools, and the
government who are dealing with the recently passed budget cut proposal (e.g., de Blasio $1 Billion).

Analysis

How have the total arrests been over the last decade?

(City of New York, 2019) – Data extracted from Data.gov and Created using Tableau

In the last decade, the total number of arrests has been on the declining trend. The police budget has also
increased to approximately $11 billion, growing around 3 percent annually. (Malanga, 2020) The total
number of arrests in 2009 was 421,316 while in 2018, it was 246,773, over a 40% drop. It is noticeable
that the total arrests in New York City decreased at a faster rate when Donald Trump took over the office.

But aren’t there still significant number of arrests?

(City of New York, 2019) – Data extracted from Data.gov and Created using Tableau

Although number of arrests have been on a declining trend, it is still high. Brooklyn continues to have the
highest number of arrests, approximately 187 per day in the year 2018. Other boroughs, not taking Staten
Island into account, have significant number of arrests as well. To better understand these arrests, a more
specific breakdown of these arrests is needed.

What are the demographics and the types of these arrests?
Below, arrests are broken down into age, gender, and type of felony.

(City of New York, 2019) – Data extracted from Data.gov and Created using Tableau

Most of the people detained are younger citizens who are from 18 to 44 years old. When looking at these
figures though, it is important to clarify that these are again arrests, not conviction. It is known from a
study that from 2009 to 2012, approximately 1.5% of all stops resulted in a jail or prison sentence. (New
York State Office of the Attorney General, 2013)

(City of New York, 2019) – Data extracted from Data.gov and Created using Tableau

Men are arrested much more than women are. Men account for over 80% of the total arrests made. This
follows an argument by the Economist Jeffrey Grogger who argued that men can be more easily
persuaded by the criminal opportunities and for example in California, one-third of all men there were

arrested at least once when they were between 18 and 30. (Grogger, 2014) It is important though to
further analyze why these people are arrested.

(City of New York, 2019) – Data extracted from Data.gov and Created using Tableau

Most of the offense were related to dangerous drugs. Dangerous drugs accounted for at least one third of
the top ten offenses. This is possible because growing rates of adult substance usage and abuse in inner-
city areas have aided to adolescents’ access to illegal drugs and their acknowledgment of selling these
dangerous drugs as an acceptable behavior. (Little & Steinberg, 2009)

Conclusion

It is shown that as the crime rate dropped, police spending increased. Studies have shown that increase in
police officers decreases instances of crime. (Thomas & Jin, 2020) However, there are still high number
of arrests made and considering that 1.5% are convicted, it was important to dive into other details.
Through additional analysis, it has been discovered that most of the arrests involved handling of
dangerous illegal substances.

It can be argued that it will be more optimal to provide enhanced educational environment to the students
in need by spending the budget on creating more employment and on public education system rather than
on the NYPD. Creating more jobs that provide more wages to the family in need and educating the
younger students in obtaining enhanced skill sets to perform more advanced higher paying occupations
may require significant amounts of capital invested and perhaps passing the proposal of shifting $1 billion
from NYPD funding to social infrastructure may be a solution.

But during this time of uncertainty and pandemic, more police officers may be needed to prevent
additional crimes such as additional violent protests and robbery and cutting $1 billion in funding may
place significant number of police officers out of positions or limit their resources, hindering operational
effectiveness. Whether deciding to pass the $1 billion cut proposal will turn out to be a great decision will
require more observation and time.

References

City of New York. (2019, May 21). NYPD Arrests Data (Historic). Retrieved from Data.gov:
         https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/nypd-arrests-data-historic

Grogger, J. (2014, July 30). The Effect of Arrests on the Employment and Earnings of Young Men.
       Retrieved from Oxfourd Journals Oxford University Press: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2118510

Images, A. B. (2014). Picture of William Bratton and Bill de Blasio at NYPD Graduation Ceremony,
        Madison Square Garden. NYPD slowdown disrespects profession: Our view. The Editorial Board
        USATODAY, New York City. Retrieved from
        https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/01/11/new-york-city-police-slowdown-mayor-
        bill-de-blasio-editorials-debates/21608569/

Little, M., & Steinberg, L. (2009, December 14). Psychosocial Correlates of Adolescent Drug Dealing in the
         Inner City. Retrieved from US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health:
         https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792760/

Malanga, S. (2020, July 2). Eye On The News: The Wrong Cuts. Retrieved from City Journal:
      https://www.city-journal.org/nypd-budget-problem-is-benefit-costs

New York State Office of the Attorney General. (2013, November). A Report on Arrests Arising From the
      New York City Police Departments Stop-And-Frist Practices. Retrieved from New York State
      Office of the Attorney General:
      https://ag.ny.gov/pdfs/OAG_REPORT_ON_SQF_PRACTICES_NOV_2013.pdf

Roth, S. (n.d.). Picture of Police Car. NYPD Officer Accused of Lying About Being Hit by Suspect's Car
         During Brooklyn Arrest. ABC News, New York City. Retrieved from https://abc7ny.com/nypd-
         officer-arrested-arrest-perjury/5353302/

Thomas, T. M., & Jin, B. (2020, May). As U.S. crime rates dropped, local police spending soared. Retrieved
      from Politico: https://www.politico.com/interactives/2020/police-budget-spending-george-
      floyd-defund/