Several New York City law enforcement officers are victims of a spate of felony assaults, according to authorities.
The officers suffered 971 felony assaults in the first five months of 2025, which is a 4.5% increase from 929 such attacks on the city’s law enforcement agents in the same period in 2024, data from the city’s crime mapping tool shows. The 971 assaults also indicated a 57% increase from the first five months of 2022, the New York Post reported.
Felony assaults on the city’s officers increased by just over 63% from 595 such attacks in 2019 to 971 in 2025, according to the outlet.
Felony assaults in general increased by about 45% over a six-year period, rising from 7,632 in 2019 to 11,087 in 2024, according to the data. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said assaults against police officers often influenced data on felony assaults in general. (RELATED: ‘I Did It On Purpose’: Video Appears To Show Woman Run Over NYPD Officer)
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said May 25 that her officers were victims of “some heinous attacks” within four weeks. The attacks included “one with part of his finger bitten off” and “another with part of his ear bitten off; and this latest vicious assault resulting in severe fractures to an officer’s face, among too many others,” Tisch added.
Tisch was referring to the May 24 attack on NYPD Officer Chowdury Nafees.
Two men roughed up Nafees and robbed him at knifepoint of his firearm, wallet and other items as he went home from work in his uniform, according to a fundraiser. A “young, rookie officer,” Nafees suffered severe injuries. His brother Navid alleged to the Post that Nafees’ attack was severe because of his work as an officer and said the family was considering relocating from New York City.
If you are willing to assault a police officer, you are a dangerous individual. They are taking over Times Square, the legal system is cutting them loose and we have a police department that is being prevented from protecting American citizens‼️ pic.twitter.com/iAaszUFuVN
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) May 8, 2025
Robert Garland, a retired NYPD detective hosting the fundraiser for Nafees, told the Post that Nafees’ suspected attackers should face long-prison terms.
“If they’re not brought to proper justice, others will know,” Garland told the Post. “They’ll think ‘I’m going to go out there, and I’m going to beat up a cop. I’ll only go to jail for a few years.’”
“When these two vicious criminals found out they were attacking a police officer, they didn’t get scared and run away,” New York City Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry told the Post.
“They beat him even harder. These assault statistics are a product of the same criminal mindset.”
The two suspects, Taveon Hargrove and Wayne Lucas, both 23, were arrested in Virginia, Commissioner Tisch said.
Experts alleged to the Post that the city’s permissive justice system was to blame for the spate of attacks on the city’s law enforcement agents.
“You have DAs like Alan [sic] Bragg who don’t even want to prosecute felony assaults against cops,” retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at Penn State University-Lehigh Valley Joseph Giacalone told the Post. “So where’s the deterrence? You have a criminal justice system that’s a revolving door, and people are getting arrested 40, 50, 60 times. The cops are dealing with people out on the streets who are really bad.”
“I think it actually just gets worse. I think people have just lost respect for the NYPD,” he added, according to the outlet.
Hendry told the Post that deescalation as a policing strategy was failing officers and emboldening perpetrators and that the suspects “have no fear because they don’t believe the justice system will deliver any consequences.”
“Attack one of our own, and you will get the full force of the greatest police department in the world coming for you,” Tisch warned prospective police assaulters.
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
