May 6, 2016
Before we talk about the drop in crime in New York City, we should briefly describe what has occurred here over the past 25 years. Back in 1990, there were about 530,000 crimes reported. The specifics include the following arrests statistics: 2,245 murders. 17,497 transit crimes. 24,000 (approx.) criminal trespass arrests. 47,000 (approx.) marijuana arrests. Over the course of a quarter century, all those numbers have been reduced drastically. For example, there were 352 murders […] Read On
August 26, 2015
Based on the reports we’ve been seeing for the last couple of months, you’d think that the Big Apple has turned into the Wild West. Every day, more reports of shootings hit the news. Well, it’s true that gun violence is a problem in New York City, but that’s not the whole story – shootings make headlines, but reports of decreases in crime don’t sell newspapers, or even website ads, for that matter. So we […] Read On
July 28, 2015
Statistics can be both interesting and informative. The biggest challenge is often taking the numbers and gleaning some meaning from them. We hear a lot about crime statistics. They are used to promote tougher gun laws, for example. They are also used to evaluate the performance of a police department, its precincts, commanders and other officers. The stats end up being sent over to the FBI and placed in their crime stats reports. And the numbers […] Read On
July 15, 2015
In a move that is sure to engender a negative response from some groups, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a new policy on bail for certain low-level and non-violent detainees in New York City. This past week, the Mayor said that from this point forward, instead of bail, the suspects would be supervised and in some cases sent to drug counseling, but allowed to remain free even though they would have been unable to […] Read On
October 1, 2014
Who would have believed it? For those who remember the soaring crime rate in New York City in the 1980’s, it might come as something of a surprise, but the numbers are in. According to research based upon figures from the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, crime in New York City declined by 54% over the past twenty years. And statewide, the drop in crime from 1990 to 2012 was 62%, which was […] Read On