NYPD touts ‘safest year’ in modern NYC history

The New York City Police Department kicked off 2016 by releasing last year’s crime numbers— boasting that “at this point, 2015 marks the safest year in the modern history in New York City.”

That was the statement on Monday from NYPD’s Commissioner William Bratton, who added: “Since 1993, we have experienced more than a 75 percent decrease in crime and an 81 percent decrease in murders.”

Among the major crime categories, which includes murder, rape, robbery, grand larceny burglary and grand theft auto, overall index crime in the city fell by 1.7 percent when compared to 2014 and crime since January 2014 has decreased 5.8 percent overall, according to the NYPD.

The department also highlighted2014 as havingthe city’s lowest murder and robbery rates in 50 years, and 2015 as its lowest burglary and grand larceny auto rates in more than 50 years.

Other findings included:

Housing crime represented 5 percent of the city’s crime in 2015 and was up less than 1 percent overall from 2014.
Transit crime represented 2 percent of the city’s total crime in 2015; although up 10 percent in 2015, transit crime is down 5 percent since January of 2014.
Three of five boroughs experienced a decrease in crime.

Though overall crime was at its lowest, according to stats released by the NYPD, the number of murders in 2015 was up slightly from 2014 to 348 to 333. Shootings were down from the previous year, but still up from its lowest point in 2013.

“The shootings that still occur in New York City are predominantly committed by those with criminal histories,” the NYPD said in a release. “In 2005, 84 percent of shooters arrested, 78 percent of homicide victims, and 79 percent of shooting victims had a criminal history.”

The crime stats’ release comes on the heels of comments from former Commissioner Raymond Kelly over whether the NYPD was manipulating statistics, reportedly creating a war of words between Kelly and current head Bratton.