City crime lowest in 2 decades
Blaz’s upbeat Oct. surprise
LAST MONTH was the safest October in more than two decades, officials said Tuesday.
With 10 fewer murders and 860 fewer serious crimes than in October 2015, last month was the “safest October in the CompStat era, going all the way back to 1994,” Mayor de Blasio announced at a briefing at Police Headquarters.
“It is a really impressive feat that the NYPD keeps setting records and is resolute on the fact that we’re going to keep driving crime down,” de Blasio said.
“We’re not going to stop until we make this city as safe as it possibly can be. But we also have to celebrate when the good work of the NYPD means people are alive and are walking the streets that might not have been otherwise.”
Police investigated 21 murders in October, down from 31 during the same month last year, officials said.
“To see that homicide number for the month of October go down so sharply is really an extraordinary step forward by the NYPD,” de Blasio said.
Year-to-date statistics show a 3.4% drop in overall major crime so far this year compared with the same period last year. Through Monday, police investigated 84,324 felony crimes — down from 87,291 reported for the same time period in 2015.
Police have also experienced a drop in shootings — from 963 this time last year to 870 this year. That’s a decrease of nearly 10%.
There have also been 17 fewer murders this year, dropping from 303 at the end of October 2015 to 286 so far this year, cops said. That’s a drop of 5.6%
“We’ve never seen numbers this low,” said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Dermot Shea. “In fact, it’s now seven straight months of index crime reduction in New York City, which is remarkable.”
Index crimes include forcible rape, murder, burglary, aggravated assault and robbery.
“We think we can push crime lower,” Shea said.
With 93 fewer shootings, the city is “poised to remain the safest big city in the nation this holiday season,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill added.
The NYPD has seen a nearly 3% uptick in felony assaults, and a nearly 4% jump in rapes this year, officials said.
Arrests are down by 7% so far this year compared with the same period last year, but cops have seen a rise in felony arrests and gun arrests, Shea said.
The number of stop-andfrisks has dropped 97% since 2011, he said.