Many cities across the United States are experiencing a shocking rise in homicides after decades of declines — New York City is no exception.
NYC has for long been associated with violent crimes including murder, rape, assault, robbery, arson, burglaries, and theft. The uptick of organized crimes has made the city more dangerous, making life a mess and a painful struggle for residents.
Yet the urban bloodshed and the overall violent crime rates in the city remain far below the spikes of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s when the city was hit by crack epidemic. Though statistics show that the crime trends in the city have been dropping steadily since the mid-90s, many New Yorkers say the violence won’t stop.
Attributes To The Fall In The Rate of Crime
As of 2015, the rate of crime in the city was much lower than that of the national average. According to recent statistics, the crime rate has actually dropped.
The reports by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) further indicated an overall decrease by 2 percent in rape, robbery, burglary, car theft, severe assault and grand larceny compared to 2014, which was considered a record-low year in NYC for violent crimes. “As we end this year, the City of New York will record the safest year in its history, its modern history, as it relates to crime,” said police chief Bill Bratton early December last year.
During the same period, arrests by officers dipped significantly by 13 percent to 333,115 through Dec. 20, from 384,770 compared to the same time in 2013. The number of criminal summonses recorded also reduced to 292,372 from 358,948.
The number of murders rose slightly to 339 as of Dec. 25 last year, as compared to the same time the previous year which had a historic low crime rate of 333. Even then, the figure was lower than the 536 murders recorded in 2010.
In 2014, a total of 328 homicides were recorded, the lowest ever recorded since 1963. The 50 cities 2015 ranking by The Economist placed New York City 10th overall as the safest large city in the world, besides being rated as the 28th safest city in personality safety.
According to criminologists, New York City’s dramatic drop in the rate of crime over the years can be attributed to clever policing tactics as well as the culmination of the crack epidemic. During the 90s, NYPD implemented broken windows, CompStat and other strategies in a bid to bring the homicide pace under control.
What’s Changed Apart From the Law And The Streets?
In New York City, killings have climbed from the 2014 numbers, which officials termed as the lowest in many decades. In 2015, the homicides increased by 9 percent to hit a high of 208 by mid-August from 190 over the same period a year ago.
The rise in homicide rates has raised an alarm among the urban police chiefs. Experts and some rank-and-file officers are linking this situation to the less aggressive policing which has somehow bolstered criminals, leading to an uptick in violence.
According to Alfred Blumstein, a criminologist and professor at Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, “The equilibrium has changed between police and offenders.” In addition, the city’s increase in homicide does not reflect any upsurge in gang violence, but instead involves killings inside cars and homes seemingly by people who know their victims—making the crimes more complicated to prevent or predict.
Sadly, this kind of situation cannot be dealt with by policing—“It speaks to a culture of violence deeply ingrained into a community — a segment of the population where people are resolving their problems in a violent way,” as stated by Michael S. Harrison, the police superintendent in New Orleans.
Choosing A Lawyer
Need the best criminal defense attorneys in New York? Are you facing criminal charges? You’ve come to the right place. Whether you’ve been arrested for a crime against another person (such as murder, assault or battery), a crime against property (such as arson, burglary or shoplifting,) or any other criminal offense, a highly experienced criminal defense attorney is just a phone call away.
The Blanch Law Firm has aggressive criminal law attorneys ready to help you with your case. They are qualified, fearless and work hard to defend your rights at each phase of a crime case — from the arrest to an appeal after a guilty verdict. Connect with our criminal attorney lawyers now for a risk-free legal consultation at (212) 736-3900.
