The New York Police Department launched a new Quality of Life division last week to crack down on low-level crimes in response to growing public concern about public safety. The news comes after Documented’s exclusive report earlier this month that revealed non-major criminal offenses have reached a 20-year high in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods like Chinatown, Flatbush and Jackson Heights — even as official statistics show a drop in major crimes citywide.
In response to community members’ concerns, Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced the creation of a new NYPD division that would address quality-of-life concerns, which include non-emergency 311 complaints, such as noise disturbances, illegal parking, public drug use, homelessness-related issues, and aggressive panhandling. According to The New York Times, 311 calls related to quality-of-life issues have nearly doubled over the past six years. However, critics who spoke with the Times said they still worry this new program may mirror the “broken windows” policing model, which some studies show as having minimal impact on crime rates while disproportionately targeting low-income communities and young men of color.
Commissioner Tisch has promised that the new unit will operate with “discretion,” though she has yet to define what that means in practice or offer clear standards for accountability. The question remains: Will this new initiative help immigrant communities that are bearing the brunt of low-level crime?
Our reporting stemmed from interviews conducted with dozens of immigrant New Yorkers on Election Day, many of whom expressed a deep sense of fear and frustration about public safety. Some cited crime as a key reason for their dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party — and what drove them to vote for Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Mayor Adams and the NYPD have repeatedly insisted that New York City is becoming safer, pointing to official data showing a decline in the seven major felony categories. This disconnect between the city’s messaging and residents’ lived experiences prompted us to dig deeper into the numbers and listen more closely to the communities affected.
After five months of research, data analysis, and interviews, our findings suggest that residents’ fears are not unfounded. While major crimes like shootings and murders hit historic lows in the first quarter of 2025, lesser offenses — those not included in the NYPD’s seven major crime categories — have spiked to 20-year highs in some immigrant communities like Chinatown, Flatbush, and Jackson Heights.
Experts we spoke with said these types of crimes, which range from petty theft to public drug use, may not be violent but still contribute to a growing sense of disorder. The result is a perception of lawlessness that makes many feel unsafe, even if they are not statistically at higher risk.
It’s too soon to tell whether this new division will meaningfully address the complex public safety challenges in a city of more than 8 million people. But in the short term, we will continue to report on how these efforts will impact immigrant communities. Will they see relief — or face renewed harm?
