The Friday Intel | 05.15.26: Westchester's Crime Drop Is Real. Is It Four Times Better Than the Nation?

Send us Fan MailKen Jenkins led his State of the County address with a crime number: overall index crime down seventeen percent, violent crime down twenty-five, murders down fifty-seven percent — the lowest January through May count since 1990. Today's Friday Intel benchmarks those numbers against every regional peer and the national average.Against Nassau (down 10.1%), Suffolk (8.7%), NYC (2.9%), and the FBI's national suburban average of 5.7% on violent crime, Westchester's performance stands out. The twenty-five percent violent crime decline is more than four times the national suburban rate.Then the show asks the question the data cannot answer: what is actually driving the outperformance? And why hasn't the county published an independent analysis showing which specific interventions produced which results — especially given the surveillance infrastructure we examined on Wednesday?In This Episode:(0:00) Cold open(0:25) The regional benchmarks(2:00) The national comparison: 4x the suburban average(2:45) The 57% murder decline(3:15) What's driving it — and what the county hasn't published(4:30) The accountability askSources: FBI UCR 2024 | Westchester County press releases | Nassau/Suffolk/Rockland crime data | Long Island PressSupport the showI Live Here Westchester is a production of I Live Here Media.We spotlight the voices, visionaries, and stories that make Westchester County more than just a place to live—it’s a place to belong.Have a guest suggestion or want to partner with us?Email: [email protected]: www.iliveheremedia.comFollow us on Instagram: @iliveheremediaSubscribe, rate, and share to support local storytelling.