NYC has safest decade in recorded history

(WSJ graphic) – “New York had its safest decade in recorded history. Fire deaths, murders and other crimes were down.”

  • News release: “Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano today announced that near record levels for public safety were maintained in 2011, with crime on the decline again and the second lowest number of fire deaths since comparable records have been kept. Prior to 2002, the city had not recorded fewer than 600 murders in a year since the early 1960s. This will be the tenth consecutive year the city has seen less than 600 murders, with slightly more than 500 in 2011, a nearly five percent reduction from the previous year and the third lowest total since comparable records were kept starting in 1963. Overall crime, when compared using the same metrics, fell slightly again in 2011, marking the 21st straight year in which major felony crime has declined. Major felony crime is down by more than 34 percent over the last 10 years…“The biggest declines happened in neighborhoods where crime was the highest to begin with, among the poorest in the city,” said Police Commissioner Kelly. “The Atlantic Magazine noted recently [The City That Became Safe, by Franklin E. Zimring] that New York’s crime decline was a public good that is ‘truly progressive, benefiting disproportionately the poor and vulnerable who need it most.’ That’s something that police officers of this city have worked hard to accomplish, some making the ultimate sacrifice in the process. It’s an accomplishment they can be proud of.”
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