Photo Courtesy of NYPD
“Public safety will always be a shared responsibility,” Commissioner O’Neill said.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The latest chapter of the citywide crime story seems to support the Police Department’s now long-running assertion that “NYC is Safe and Keeps Getting Safer.”
July NYPD CompStat figures show that each of the five boroughs enjoyed a reduction in overall crime, compared to the same 31-day period last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill announced on Thursday as they touted the overwhelmingly positive summer numbers.
The city experienced 743 fewer index crimes, or -8.1 percent in July 2017, compared with July 2016. This reduction also set a new record for the fewest index crimes of any July in the modern CompStat-era, department officials noted. These reductions further contributed to the 3,471 fewer overall index crimes citywide, or -6 percent year-to-date, compared with 2016; as well as the 91 fewer shootings citywide, or -17.1 percent year-to-date, compared with 2016.
According to the NYPD, there were 35 murders reported in July 2017, compared with 34 in July 2016. There were 126 rapes reported in July 2017, compared with 148 in July 2016 – a 14.9-percent reduction. There were 1,224 robberies reported in July 2017, compared with 1,389 in July 2016 – an 11.9-percent reduction. There were 1,854 felonious assaults reported in July 2017, compared with 2,142 in July 2016 – a 13.4-percent drop. There were 1,008 burglaries reported last month, compared with 1,103 last year at the same time – an 8.6-percent reduction. There were 3,684 grand larcenies reported in July 2017, compared with 3,809 last July – a 3.3-percent dip. There were 546 grand larceny autos reported last month, compared with 595 in July 2016 – an 8.2-percent drop. And there were 80 shooting incidents reported in July 2017, compared with 97 reported in the same month last year. This is a 17.5-percent decrease in reported shootings.
“Much of the credit for our consistent reduction in crime is owed to the men and women in blue, and it is the cops who are working now and for all those who came before them that got us to where we are now,” O’Neill noted. “But as time goes on, we increasingly need to have those strong relationships we’re developing between our cops and everybody who lives and works in all our communities. They’re the ones who know the criminals, they’re the ones who know who’s on their streets, on their block, in their housing developments, and in their neighborhoods. No one knows better about what’s going on on their block than the people that live and work there. And they’re the ones that can help us maintain our focus, maintain our efforts, maintain where we’re going to put our resources in the right areas. So we need that connection between New Yorkers and our officers. We need everybody’s help because public safety will always be a shared responsibility.”
