Photo Courtesy of NYPD
Fewer than 300 murders were recorded in NYC in 2018.
By Forum Staff
In 2018, the City set new records for public safety and crime reduction in the modern era, the Police Department announced Thursday.
Last year, overall crime was lower than in 2017 and below a new benchmark of 97,000; murder was below 300, numbers not seen since the early 1950s, NYPD officials noted; robberies were below 13,000, a new record low for the modern era; burglaries were below 12,000, lower than in 2017; and shooting incidents were again below 800, lower than in 2017.
“With stronger bonds of trust with the community created with neighborhood policing; a singular focus on violent crimes and those who commit them; and ever stronger coordination with our law enforcement partners, we can continue to drive crime down even lower in 2019,” said Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill.
Key highlights from 2018 crime stats include: lowest number of index crimes in the modern era—there were 1,245 fewer incidents compared to 97,089 in 2017; lowest number of homicides recorded in the modern era, 289 compared to 292 in 2017; robberies, burglaries, and grand larceny autos down when comparing 2018 versus 2017; felony assaults and grand larcenies were up less than half of a percentage point when comparing 2017 to 2018; and shooting incidents were down by 35when comparing 2017 to 2018. Rape was the only one of the seven major index crimes to see a significant increase from 2017 to last year. In 2018, there were 1,795 reported rapes, compared to 1,467 in 2017, a 22.4 percent jump.
