NYPD Addresses Rise in NYC Slashings; ‘Operation Cutting Edge’

Along with better analyzing the department’s CompStat data, the police will step up their presence in slashing-prone areas and increase their effort to taking knives off the streets.

New York Mayor Bill deBlasio, left, and New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton address a news conference in New York's City Hall, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. Richard Drew/AP

The NYPD has announced an initiative to combat the surge of violence taking place New York City streets, after the police department failed at trying to get ahead of the recent rise in knife-related assaults.

For the first three months in 2015, the city saw 750 stabbings and slashings; so far in 2016, the city has seen a 22 percent increase, at 916.

Only a total of 6 percent of knife-related incidents occurred in train stations and homeless shelters.