Photo Courtesy of Edwin Torres/Mayoral Photography Office
“It’s the department’s winning formula of working with communities to stop crime in its tracks that’s made New York City the safest big city in the country,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
By Michael V. Cusenza
The city is enjoying what the de Blasio administration has called an unprecedented reduction in index crime, and that trend continued through November 2017, Police Department brass and the mayor noted in a press conference on Monday.
According to the latest available CompStat figures, there were four fewer murders; 17 fewer shooting incidents; and 656 fewer index crimes last month, compared with November 2016. Year-to-date, these reductions contributed to the 5,141 fewer overall citywide index crimes, compared with 2016.
“I’ve been going to CompStat since 1996 and to have a year like we had last year in 2016 was pretty amazing,” said Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill. “But the fact that what we’re doing this year, continuing that trend and making those decreases go even deeper, is really nothing short of amazing.”
According to the NYPD, there were 1,172 robberies reported in November 2017, compared with 1,289 in November 2016. This is a reduction of 117 crimes. There were 1,407 felonious assaults reported last month, compared with 1,611 during the same period last year. This is a reduction of 204 crimes. There were 1,016 burglaries reported in November 2017, compared with 1,091 in November 2016. This is a reduction of 75 crimes. There were 3,617 grand larcenies reported in November 2017, compared with 3,824 in November 2016. This is a reduction of 207 crimes. And there were 480 grand larceny autos reported last month, compared with 543 in November 2016. This is a reduction of 63 crimes.
The only major index crime to see an increase was rape. According to the department, there were 111 rapes reported in November 2017, compared with 96 in November 2016 – an increase of 15 crimes.
“On the rapes, particularly disturbing when I look at the rapes – we’ve had – when you finished August in New York City we were down seven percent rapes for the year. September we were up four rapes, but October and November – two months in a row, we have seen double digit increases percentage wise in rapes,” noted Chief of Crime Control Strategies Dermot Shea. “That coincides with a lot of the news media coverage of late. Very difficult to say the role that plays in it but that is two months in a row of double digit increases.”
But Shea was still encouraged by the overall theme of record decreases in the vast majority of major crimes.
“Nine straight months of reduced index crime; 15 of the last 16 months we have knocked down index crime in New York City; 21 straight months reduced robberies, shootings down 12 of the last 13 months,” he said. “We’ve had 52 days this year without a shooting in New York City. And for those of us that have been around for a while that is unbelievable. In just two years we have doubled that number. Fifty-two days this year no one went to a hospital in New York City after having been shot.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the NYPD’s emphasis on the cop-community relationship is the crucial factor in consistently driving down crime numbers.
“It’s the department’s winning formula of working with communities to stop crime in its tracks that’s made New York City the safest big city in the country,” he added.
