Posted on 12/27/2006 5:16:10 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
NYPD Blames Increase On Availability Of Guns Out Of State
(AP) NEW YORK -- After many years of decline, the number of murders climbed this year in New York and many other major U.S. cities, reaching their highest levels in a decade in some places.
Among the reasons given: gangs, drugs, the easy availability of illegal guns, a disturbing tendency among young people to pull guns when they do not get the respect they demand, and, in Houston at least, an influx of Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
In New York, where the city reported 579 homicides through Dec. 24 -- a nearly 10 percent increase from the year before -- the spike is mostly the result of an unusually large number of "reclassified homicides," or those involving victims who were shot or stabbed years ago but did not die until this year. Thirty-five such deaths have been added to this year's toll, compared with an annual average of about a dozen.
At the same time, Police Department spokesman Paul Browne noted that this year's total is only slightly higher than last year's 539 homicides -- the city's lowest death toll in more than 40 years.
Browne blamed the rise in part on the availability of guns, particularly weapons from out of state. The city this year sued dozens of out-of-state gun shops that it says are responsible for many of the illegal weapons on the streets of New York.
In Chicago, homicides through the first 11 months of the year were up 3.3 percent compared with the same period in 2005, reversing a four-year decline. A police spokeswoman said gang violence has been a contributing factor.
In New Haven, Conn., there were 23 homicides as of Tuesday, compared with 15 in 2004 and in 2005. Police Chief Francisco Ortiz said that about half of this year's killings involve young people settling disputes with guns instead of fists.
"They're all struggling with this thing about respect and pride," Ortiz said. "It's about respect. It's about revenge. It's about having a reputation. It's about turf and it's about girls."
Houston police attribute the 15 percent increase in the homicide count to the influx of Katrina evacuees from the Gulf Coast.
"So we expect that to settle," Lt. Murray Smith said. "We're hoping it will go down."
New Orleans, with its post-Katrina exodus, is the only major U.S. city that saw a sharp decline in the number of homicides. There were 154 in New Orleans this year as of Monday, said police spokesman Sgt. Jeffrey Johnson, down from 210 in 2005. But the city was largely empty during the fall and winter of 2005-06, and even now has only about half of its pre-Katrina population of 455,000.
Some cities, like Cincinnati -- which has had 83 homicides so far, up from 79 in 2005 -- posted their highest numbers ever. Others saw their highest death tolls in years.
Oakland, Calif., had 148 homicides as of Wednesday, up 57 percent from last year and the highest in more than a decade. Philadelphia's 2006 homicide total was 403 as of Wednesday, the first time the number has topped 400 in nearly a decade. There were 380 killings in all of 2005.
Philadelphia officials have struggled all year to reduce the violence. In July, Mayor John F. Street gave a televised address in which pleaded with young people: "Lay down your weapons. Do it now. Choose education over violence."
A few cities reported slight decreases in murders. Los Angeles' total was down about 4 percent to 464 homicides through Dec. 23. San Francisco's fell about 15 percent. San Francisco Police Sgt. Steve Mannina said the drop is partly due to increased patrols in violence-prone areas and more overtime approved by the police chief.
The FBI does not release its national crime statistics until several months after the end of the year. The bureau's statistics for the first six months of 2006 showed an increase of 1.4 percent in the number of murders in the first half of 2006 compared with the first six months of 2005.
Andrew Karmen, a criminologist at John Jay College in New York, said that while there are various theories for the drop in murders in New York and other cities in the 1990s, no one knows for sure why it happened. And if they are going up again, no one knows the reason for that, either, he said.
He noted that police departments tend to take credit when the murder rate goes down. "When crime goes up it will be interesting to see whether they will accept responsibility," Karmen said.
I'd rather be in Bahgdad.
People may not want Rudy for Prez, but NY needed his "grab the bastards by the throat" mentality to clean out the hellhole it had become. Looks to be sliding back to the hole now.
The problem in Philly is that the criminals began shooting and killing witnesses AND got away with it. Needless to say, that's a trend that's reduced civilian cooperation with investigations to a low level.
How about one more: a weak man in the mayor's office.
What, are the Knicks back in town?
Why crack down on crime? There are more important issues, like taxing the crap out of smokers, and banning transfats...we have to have our priorities, ya know?
/sarc
The RATS have power and the Rats come out.
It's got a long way to slide. The annual murder totals during the Koch/Dinkins years got as high as 1300+. Compare the 539 to the Philadelphia total of 400+ in a city an eighth the size of NYC. I consider the (relatively) extremely low murder totals a Giuliani legacy.
Where's the headline "Iraq safer than NYC"?
It's up all over the country because of all the immigration.
Bloomberg wants to be a Dinkins rather than a Rudy.
"NYPD Blames Increase On Availability Of Guns Out Of State"
The availability of guns has not increased. The supply of criminals has. Blame immigration. Blame the Courts. Blame the attorneys. Blame the legislators for not passing stronger laws.
Any crime at all is a terrible thing. But the fact remains that New York City, even with this developemnt, is safer now than in generations.
Isn't it funny how when Democrat controlled big cities see increases in crime, it's never their fault? It's always someone else's doing. If only their neighbors were as enlightened as they are then all of their social policies would work. Funny that.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Murder Rate - 90% Drug Related Too many People have an insane fear of the city. Some fear Downtown or the "ghetto" which they can't differentiate. What people need to understand is what the County coroner is saying:
However, in the majority of the city's homicides, authorities say the suspect and victim knew each other. The Hamilton County coroner says 90% of the cases were drug-related.
"It's just not one factor," said Dr. O'dell Owens. "Its the guns, the [lack of] education and the drugs and the family unit. A lot of things we have to work on."
Yes, it is bad that the murder rate is up. We as a city, county, state, and country need to work broadly to decrease it. This does not make the city unsafe. I know childish commenters are going to now chime in. They'll make trite cracks about gun shots and Washington Park and some will make poorly veiled bigoted/racist statements. What they fail to grasp is that they are pussies. I say that with full offensive intended. They are scared little girls who see something on TV and think it is real. I think these idiots might even think that the 2001 riots happened along the river or in Mt. Adams.
"People may not want Rudy for Prez, but NY needed his "grab the bastards by the throat" mentality to clean out the hellhole it had become. Looks to be sliding back to the hole now.
Not really. These are murders among acquaintances in the bad parts of town, outside of Manhattan.
It is very difficult to prevent them by policing. If a bunch of rough teenagers are drinking beer in an apartment, and a deadly fight breaks out, the police can only take statements afterwards.
Her Ankleship must be campaigning hard...
Or she is arkiciding The Former First Felon's bimbos!
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