Results tagged “operationimpact”

Last week, Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced that, overall, the city was on course for another year of declining crime, even in spite of the economic slowdown. Major felony crime fell 4% this year versus last and 30% versus 2001 (see chart, from the city, below). However, robberies were up 2% vs. 2007 (but were down 21% vs. 2001) and murders were up 5% (but down 21% vs. 2001).

Not only is the NYPD having trouble getting potential recruits to sit for the entrance exam to the Police Academy, but one in five who gain entrance wind up dropping out or disqualifying themselves before they graduate. The end result is that for the first time in years, fewer than 1,000 were officers were added to the force from a graduating class and the size of the NYPD has shrunk to its smallest number in 15 years.

Given that ridership is at record highs, the MTA and police are proud that subway crime is down from a year ago, according to statistics obtained by the New York Post.

Overall major felony crime is also down 26% since 2001. Mayor Bloomberg said, "When I came into office, many believed it was impossible to drive crime, particularly murders, down any further. Yet, beginning in 2002, crime declined steadily and murders fell below 600 annually for the first time in 40 years. That happened again in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. Now, in 2007, we have reached another milestone, murders could potentially fall below 500 - and that includes a decrease in random murders where victims don't know the perpetrators." In other words, take that, Rudy!

About 14% of new police recruits have dropped out of the latest Police Academy class of over 1,000 recruits, and some are worried that the city's crimefighting programs will be hurt. Notably, "Operation Impact," which Police Commissioner Ray Kelly credit withs helping decrease crime by 25-30% by concentrating cops in those "impact areas" may be without more police officers. Kelly blames the attrition partly on the low starting salary of $25,100.

Yesterday afternoon, 1,097 police cadets graduated from the Police Academy in a ceremony at Madison Square Garden. The Mayor said, "Just a few weeks ago, the FBI reported that violent crime went up in the rest of the nation during 2006, but here in New York violent crime decreased. The NYPD has continued to drive violent crime and property crime down to historic lows this year - and year after year. Today we welcome 1,097 men and women into the ranks of our Police Department to continue the proud tradition of New York's Finest."

Given current murder rates, it seems that the city's murder rate will go down yet again this year. Newsday reports that NYC is on track "to recoard the lowest homicide rate in at least 40 years": - bout 450 for the year. Even police offices are asking "What's going on?" While murder rates alone are not the ultimate quality-of-life measures, touting low murder rates is a useful tool for Mayors and other city elected officials looking for reelection. The main reason given for the dramatic drops in murders (12% down citywide except the Bronx; nine of last year's top ten precincts with homicides have reduced murder rates) is Operation Impact, the NYPD initiative that deployed police officers into "Impact Zones" with high rates of crime, and the dedication of the police and communities to working together. A John Jay criminologist, Rick Curtis, tells Newsday, "Everyone thinks New York will eventually bottom out, and yet it hasn't; it keeps going down," while a Harlem police source says that medical technology has also helped attempted murders from turning into murders. What Gothamist found interesting is that while many areas in the city are reducing their crime rates, the Bronx "bucks the trend," which probably means its crime reductions are less than the average or they have some crimes that have been more difficult for the police to conquer. We expect the NYPD to put more presence there.

Expect the Mayor to bandy these stats about until he is re-elected.

Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly announced that New York is the safest city in the U.S. for the second year in a row. NYC experienced a 5.5% drop in crime (after a 5.9% drop in 2002) a rate which the Daily News calls, "nearly four times lower than in Dallas, three times lower than in Phoenix and roughly half as high as in Philadelphia or Los Angeles."