The NYPD is flooding The Bronx with more cops, officially splitting the borough into two patrol commands Wednesday in a “major restructuring” to tackle crime that Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said was long overdue.
The borough is now officially divided into Patrol Borough Bronx North and Patrol Borough Bronx South, bringing “more resources, more specialized units and more leadership” to its 12 precincts, Tisch said at a press conference in Mott Haven.
The investment comes as the borough has “carried one of the heaviest public safety burdens anywhere in this city,” the commissioner said, standing next to Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“For years, the structure of patrol in the Bronx remained largely unchanged even as the borough itself changed dramatically,” Tisch said.
“Calls for service have increased, operational demands have intensified and the workload placed on this borough has continued to grow.”
Last year, there were nearly one million 911 calls in The Bronx — the highest among the five boroughs, Tisch noted.
The city’s top cop — who in February announced the new plan to bring two patrol boroughs — said the new implementation will add nearly 200 more officers to The Bronx.
Funding for the boost was included in Mamdani’s proposed city budget that now needs to be reviewed by the City Council, Tisch said.
The lefty mayor said the move is meant to bring The Bronx up to snuff with Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, which have all had two patrol boroughs for years.
Tisch stressed the increased police presence won’t pull resources away from other parts of Gotham, noting the department hired more than 4,000 police officers last year.
“That is the largest hiring year in the city’s history since we keep records,” she said. “And because of that hiring, we are able to put a lot of new officers into precincts and free up existing officers to come here to the Bronx.”
The NYPD has boasted that major crime in the borough was down more than 15% in April and down 11% year-to-date. The Bronx also had the least amount of murders in its recorded history in April with only four, according to NYPD data.
So far this year, there have been 32 recorded murders – five less than last year — and 91 shooting victims, which is down nearly 11% from a year ago, NYPD data shows.
One shooting victim was a 5-year-old girl who was grazed by an errant bullet during a reckless gang gun battle last week.
Still, rapes are up 9% and transit crimes has spiked 21% year to date compared to the same time frame in 2025.
“This is long overdue but very necessary,” Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson said at the press conference.
“We want to ensure that every New Yorker in this borough feels safe and is safe because we know that perception is different from reality,” she said.
“The violence we have seen in this borough is unacceptable and we will never accept it as normal,” Gibson said.
Assistant Chief Benjamin Gurley will head Bronx North that will be headquartered at the 48th precinct station and Assistant Chief Brian Hennessy will oversee Bronx South that will be situated at the 40th precinct house.