NYPD's Slow Response Times Keep Growing Longer, Data Shows

NEW YORK CITY — New York's Finest aren't the fastest.

NYPD response times to all types of crimes grew nearly two minutes — or 16 minutes, on average — as the 2024 fiscal year began compared to the same span the year before, according to new data published in the Preliminary Mayor's Management Report.

The slower responses extended to critical crimes, the data shows.

"Over the first four months of Fiscal 2024, end-to-end average response time to critical crimes in progress (minutes:seconds) increased from 9:01 over the same period last year to 9:41," the report states.

And the data buried in the 424-page report — first highlighted by the New York Post — shows slow-footed police responses aren't new.

Response times have risen across the board since at least the 2021 fiscal year.

So why are cops taking longer?

City Hall officials said most of the increase stemmed from when cops were traveling to the call, rather than the call-taking or dispatch period.

Travel times have increased because of heavier traffic as the city recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for the mayor's office, said congestion pricing — which will charge tolls to enter Manhattan below 60th Street — could help clear up increased traffic congestion that has bedeviled cops.

"As we partner with the MTA on the implementation of congestion pricing, we will continue to take all necessary steps to speed up response times across uniformed agencies and protect the health and safety of New Yorkers," she said in a statement.

The report also states the increases could be linked to 45,000 more emergency calls received than other comparable spans.

The number of uniformed cops also decreased by roughly 920 from October 2022 to October 2023, the report states.

"The Department continuously shifts resources to ensure operations are running effectively and is assessing strategies for immediate implementation to mitigate the current increase in response times," the report states.