Photo Courtesy of Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor de Blasio (l. to r.), Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill, and Chief of Department Carlos Gomez touted the latest NYPD major crime stats this week at 1 Police Plaza.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The City this year followed the safest summer in the CompStat era with the safest September since 1994 – the year CompStat was implemented during former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s first tenure as top cop under then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Department brass.
“We are very pleased to be in a city where crime continues to go down,” de Blasio said on Monday at 1 Police Plaza.
According to the NYPD, last month was the safest September in the modern era, with 1,163 fewer total index crimes reported, or a 12-percent decrease compared with September 2015. Robbery is down 220 crimes, or -14.3 percent; burglary is down 338 crimes, or -24.8 percent; and grand larceny auto is down 176 crimes, or -22.7 percent. Additionally, murder is down 5.8 percent; rape is down 27 crimes, or -20 percent; felonious assault is down 89 crimes, or -5 percent; and grand larceny is down 311 crimes, or -7.9 percent. Shootings, however, are up by about 10 percent compared to September 2015.
“The hard work of the men and women of the NYPD is self-evident, but it is also supported by a sustained reduction in crime,” O’Neill noted in his first crime stats press conference since taking over as top cop a couple of weeks ago. “With September’s sharp reductions in every major crime category, on top of a historically low-crime summer, we are poised for a terrific fall season. I am privileged to lead such a committed group of law enforcement professionals, and look forward to telling their ongoing stories of success.”
Additionally, according to the latest available citywide CompStat figures, there were 2,322 fewer index crimes reported year-to-date, or -3 percent, compared with 2015. There were 97 fewer shootings year-to-date, or -11 percent, and 10 fewer murders this year compared with the same period in 2015.
Car thefts are also down citywide – nearly 13 percent year-to-date. At the precinct level, the 106th has posted a dramatic drop in the grand larceny auto category: down 98 offenses, or -52.4 percent year-to-date compared with 2015.
This can be characterized as a spectacular improvement, especially when you consider that more than 3,000 vehicles were being swiped from the south Queens command 20 years ago.
“Here in Queens County,” District Attorney Richard Brown noted earlier this year after being sworn in for a record seventh-consecutive term, “auto theft has long been considered a benchmark in measuring our effectiveness in combating crime.”
