Crime in New York City Plunges to a Level Not Seen Since the 1950s
- 6 years ago
Crime in New York City Plunges to a Level Not Seen Since the 1950s
In fact, crime has fallen in New York City in each of the major felony categories — murder
and manslaughter, rape, assault, robbery, burglary, grand larceny, and car thefts — to a total of 94,806 as of Sunday, well below the previous record low of 101,716 set last year.
“We don’t know when we’ve exhausted the possibilities of urban crime decline,
and we won’t know unless and until New York scrapes bottom,” said Mr. Zimring, who analyzed the first 20 years of New York’s historic crime reduction and expounded on it in a book.
Mr. de Blasio and the police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, credit recent drops in crime to the Police Department’s emphasis on going after the relatively small groups of people — mostly gangs
and repeat offenders — believed to be responsible for most crime, while also building relationships in communities where trust has been strained.
It would have seemed unbelievable in 1990, when there were 2,245 killings in New York City,
but as of Wednesday there have been just 286 in the city this year — the lowest since reliable records have been kept.
The lower homicide numbers are still preliminary — and include one announced on Wednesday night —
but they jibe with large drops in killings in major cities like Chicago and Detroit, while contrasting with sizable increases in killings in smaller cities like Charlotte and Baltimore.
And while rapes were down from last year by one, to 1,417, misdemeanor sex crimes — a catchall for various types of misconduct
that includes groping — ticked up 9.3 percent to 3,585 so far.
In fact, crime has fallen in New York City in each of the major felony categories — murder
and manslaughter, rape, assault, robbery, burglary, grand larceny, and car thefts — to a total of 94,806 as of Sunday, well below the previous record low of 101,716 set last year.
“We don’t know when we’ve exhausted the possibilities of urban crime decline,
and we won’t know unless and until New York scrapes bottom,” said Mr. Zimring, who analyzed the first 20 years of New York’s historic crime reduction and expounded on it in a book.
Mr. de Blasio and the police commissioner, James P. O’Neill, credit recent drops in crime to the Police Department’s emphasis on going after the relatively small groups of people — mostly gangs
and repeat offenders — believed to be responsible for most crime, while also building relationships in communities where trust has been strained.
It would have seemed unbelievable in 1990, when there were 2,245 killings in New York City,
but as of Wednesday there have been just 286 in the city this year — the lowest since reliable records have been kept.
The lower homicide numbers are still preliminary — and include one announced on Wednesday night —
but they jibe with large drops in killings in major cities like Chicago and Detroit, while contrasting with sizable increases in killings in smaller cities like Charlotte and Baltimore.
And while rapes were down from last year by one, to 1,417, misdemeanor sex crimes — a catchall for various types of misconduct
that includes groping — ticked up 9.3 percent to 3,585 so far.