New York City just recorded its fewest shootings ever

By Fusion Staff  |  April 5, 2016 | 1:28pm
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New York City just recorded the fewest murders and shootings of any quarter in recorded history, city officials announced Monday.

The city saw a 21%-decline in murders—or 18-fewer homicides—and a 14%-decrease in shootings for the first three months of 2016. It also set record lows for robberies, burglaries, and car thefts.

“We are the safest big city in America. This quarter’s statistics prove it once again,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

De Blasio credited the drops to to an increased focus on getting guns off the streets: The NYPD has already seized over 800 guns this year, a more than 15% increase compared with the first quarter of 2015, the Huffington Post reported. Gun arrests are also up by about 13%.

The news wasn’t all good, as NYPD Chief Bill Bratton noted that stabbings and slashings had increased 20% to nearly 900. He said the incidents were “at a level of concern.” The stabbings, along with new categories of crimes established, caused the overall number of assaults to creep upward. All crime was up 1.3%.

The overall decline in the most violent crimes stands in stark contrast to what is happening in Chicago, where there has been an 84%-increase in homicides and twice as many shootings compared with the first-three-months of last year.

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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