The number of violent and other serious incidents reported in the city’s homeless shelters more than doubled in one year after officials revamped the way the incidents were classified.
The increase in reported incidents in fiscal 2016, which ended June 30, comes as the shelter population hit another record high of 59,786 on Tuesday.
Under the new methodology, the Department of Homeless Services tallied 1,698 “critical” incidents in shelters, including 890 classified as violent.
Arrests for nonviolent acts, drug overdoses and accidents that cause serious injury are among the incidents in the “critical” category.
Under guidelines in fiscal 2015, just 767 incidents were listed as “critical.”
Agency officials said the latest figures aren’t comparable to those from prior years because of the classification changes — which had excluded some incidents, including most assaults, from being listed as “critical.”
They also said that reporting has been improved by a boost in shelter security.
“Because DHS has instituted improved reporting and enhanced security in shelters, more incidents are noted and reported,” said agency rep David Neustadt.
“You can’t fix a problem without accurate information, which is why, in partnership with the NYPD, we completely reformed reporting to . . . ensure all violent incidents are included.”
But the numbers were up any way they were counted.
While full-year data were not comparable, officials recorded a 15 percent increase in violent incidents at shelters in the first six months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, under the new methodology.
Nearly half of the violent incidents in January to June 2016 were cases of domestic violence, officials said.
Overall, critical incidents ticked up by 3 percent in the first half of 2016.
“Hopefully, they can figure out how to bring those incidents down now that they’re finally reporting it [accurately],” said William Burnett, a board member of Picture the Homeless.
“That’s why we’re saying you need more housing . . . If you take people out of the shelters, you won’t have those incidents.”