Top advocate for police officers says drop in NYC homicides doesn't tell full violent crime story

A leading advocate for law enforcement officers says the number of homicides in New York City has indeed declined in 2026, but democrat-socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani cannot take credit.

Randy Sutton, former police officer, detective, lieutenant and current founder and chair of the board of the Wounded Blue, argues that the decline in the city of roughly 8.5 million is in no small part the result of President Trump's efforts.

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“There has been a tremendous change within the criminal justice system since President Trump took office,” Sutton told Just the News No Noise on Friday. “He has utilized the Department of Justice not against law enforcement but for law enforcement.”

To be sure, according to data for the first half of this year, the murder rate in New York City dropped by 24.7%, compared to the previous year. But reported rape crimes in the city's five boroughs for the first half of 2026 are up 22% – 893 – compared to 730 over the same time period last year. 

"The overall crime rate hasn't declined," Sutton also said.

He argues that part of the success in lowering crime in major cities like NYC and elsewhere across the country is that the Trump Justice Department is using federal courts to try, convict and punish criminals with sentences more "severe" than punishments state courts could hand out. 

Sutton also points to state, FBI and Department of Homeland Security task forces, much like the Joint Terrorism Task Force that began in New York City in the 1980s.

"When you work together ... it's good for the good guys," he said.