NYPD Says Crime is Down, But Popular Perception Says It's Up

Though there's been a surge in assaults in some downtown neighborhoods like Greenwich Village, the NYPD says New York's fifteen year decline in crime continues unabated, with an overall drop of 12% so far this year. But some New Yorkers, like Harlem's Kone Mahamadou, tell a different story: "If you walk these streets, especially at night, you know crime is definitely not down. It's not safe. I don't know where they get these statistics." Some say the NYPD's stats are skewed because officers have been known to discourage crime victims from filling out police reports, but David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College, says the bad economy is just messing with everyone's heads: "All objective information says things are no worse, and maybe a little better, but residents think things are going in a ditch." Tell that to 20-year-old East New York resident Tianna Sanchez; the NYPD says robberies and grand larcenies are down by double digits in the area, but she tells the News, "You can't sit on a bench because you are scared there will be shootings. They were shooting on my baby's birthday. It was 90 degrees out, and we had to go in the house."