New York Murder Rate Falls Again, but Has It Hit Bottom?

NY Times ^ | December 24, 2004 | SHAILA K. DEWAN

[conservative in nyc]

Thanks for the ping. I doubt the drop is due to the NYPD fudging the numbers. The city has changed since the bad old days of the Dinkins administration, when squeegee men roamed free and criminals rioted in Crown Heights while the NYPD stood down. We can thank the end of the corrupt, criminal friendly Democrat control of City Hall for a lot of the drop.

[NYC GOP Chick]

At some point, the drop in murders has to stop, unless former murderers take up performing CPR on people otherwise dying of natural causes.

This is true. I don't expect my neighborhood's murder rate to go down much, as it's almost at zero.

[NYC GOP Chick]

He was referring to 9/11, which was an act of war, not a crime.

[NYC GOP Chick]

Oh, no! What the NYC-haters going to do? They'll find something to bitch about anyway.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

CRAIN'S?

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

A Ca Guy:

Oh sure, New York City's a fine place to be...IF YOU WANNA GET MURDERED!!!

[TLOZ]

Obviously, you did not read the article.

That said, I doubt that much of the decline has to do with fudging of statistics by precinct commanders. Some might have been changed, but keep in mind that the FBI audits all police statistics twice a year. And murder, the barometer for measuring most crime rates, is VERY hard to downgrade.

Some of it might have to do with the improved quality of medical care, but assaults (which includes attempted, and therefore prevented, murder), and therefore shootings, are also down.