Somers Republican Dan Branda
Somers Republican Dan Branda, who ran for Westchester County Board last year, issued a release about recent crime data in Westchester.
“A year after Westchester County Executive George Latimer and BOL Chairman Vedat Gashi lied about government data demonstrating clear and undeniable growth in Westchester’s crime rates, Dan Branda today provided an alarming update on Westchester’s crime rates.
“Crime in Westchester continues to rise, now up 30 percent post-pandemic, while the administration of County Executive George Latimer and Board of Legislators Chairman Vedat Gashi fail to take meaningful action—or even acknowledge the problem.
“While the administration of County Executive George Latimer and Chairman Vedat Gashi continues to evade responsibility, I am here to demand answers and ask concrete questions toward addressing Westchester’s rising crime” Branda asked. “With no accountability from our elected leaders, crime is up 30 percent in Westchester with only thoughts and prayers to curtail it. The problem is, once you misrepresent crime data to help win an election, creating a false sense of security about safety in our community, it becomes damn hard to ask the tough questions and develop real solutions.”
“Last year, during Gashi’s re-election campaign, Latimer and Gashi held a press conference that falsely asserted “Crime is down in Westchester—Again,” said Branda.
Trend Analysis: Crime on the Rise in Post-Pandemic Years
Sourcing his analysis in the public Index Crime statistics, provided by New York State’s Division of Criminal Justice Services Uniform Crime Reporting System, Branda pointed out that crime trends have worsened significantly in the two years following the pandemic, with consistent year-to-year increases:
Total Index Crimes: From 2021 to 2023, total crime surged by 30%, from 9,285 to 11,992 incidents, marking a significant rise that the administration has failed to address last year when crime was up only 20 percent year-over-year.
Violent Crime: There has been an 18% increase in violent crime in the same post-pandemic period with consecutive year-over-year increases of 9 percent and 8 percent, including consistent and significant rises in aggravated assaults (including assaults where the victim was shot or stabbed).
Burglary and Larceny: Property crime in Westchester County rose by 29 percent, while burglary increased by 35 percent and motor vehicle theft increased 44 percent.
According to the data, crime is also up 3 percent against Latimer’s cherry-picked benchmark year of 2017, stated Branda, in his release. “Latimer and Gashi can’t keep pretending everything is fine when the data is screaming otherwise. The time for self-congratulation is over. It’s time for real leadership, real answers, and a real plan to confront the rising tide of crime. Westchester needs not just a comprehensive crime reduction plan that addresses the root causes of the current crime trends, but also structural reforms to ensure real accountability,” said Branda, who after watching the Latimer press conference, asked why last year Westchester County used comparisons of crime data over a six year period when this year they used data over a five month period.
“This charade is a shameful display of cowardly leadership, refusing to be accountable to taxpayers for our safety. Last year, Mr. Latimer refused to engage in any meaningful data comparison that was not referenced against his cherry-picked year of 2017. Now when that comparison no longer holds against scrutiny and Westchester County is less safe than when he took office, he’s trying to cherry-pick partial year data to paint a picture of success.
“What Latimer conveniently ignores is that this so-called positive trend is based on incomplete data, with data missing from multiple police agencies in Westchester County that have not yet reported data to DCJS.
“We deserve to know how any coherent public safety management can justify switching between a 7-year reference point, as they did at last year’s self-congratulatory press conference, and the 3-month reference point they are using today. Latimer, Jenkins, and Raynor know they are engaging in “intellectual fraud,” said Branda.
