We all know that lots of people love New York, and apparently that applies to potential criminals, too.
Despite the rough economy, the Big Apple can boast a significant drop in crime from the same time last year. According to the New York Daily News, there was a 12 percent drop in seven major crime categories, including murder.
There’s been about 320 murders so far this year, comprising about a 15 percent drop from last year. That represents an even more dramatic drop compared to years past. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly put this in perspective when he addressed a civic group last week.
“If the murder rate stayed where it was in 2001, there would have been 760 additional homicides he explained. (And yes, even one murder is unacceptable, but when you put it like that… wow!)
Officials predict there will probably be about 450 murders by the year-end, which is well-below the 497 murders recorded two years ago, which was the lowest since the NYPD began tracking murder rates back in 1963.
The stats are even more impressive because the NYPD faces a ton of challenges, including difficulty recruiting new officers, budget cuts and anti-terror programs that tie up about 1,000 cops a day.
The numbers might reveal that New Yorkers are retaining something they might not have in past economic downturns: hope.
“The poor and the unemployed are not fed up, or in despair,” renowned criminologist Andrew Karmen theorized to the Associated Press. “They still retain hope that the economy will turn.”
Hope in a shaky economy? Now that’s something to really celebrate.
Photo courtesy of cabezadeturco via Flickr.