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New York City: Naughty or nice this holiday season?
Nice, it turns out, according to the New York Police Department.
In a remarkable, record-breaking turn of events,no murders have taken place in the Big Apple for six days straight, during the Christmas season, no less, theNew York Daily Newsreported.
“From precision policing to target specific crime and criminals, to focusing on quality-of-life, to creating neighborhood policing to build mutual trust and respect with the community, the NYPD is pushing crime to historic lows,” Phillip Walzak, Deputy Commissioner Public Information, tells PEOPLE.
“Thanks to these innovations, New York City continues to be the safest big city in America. There were zero murders recorded from December 22, 2018, through December 26, 2018,” Walzak says.
Not only is the crime rate down in the five boroughs, but the city may end up reporting fewer murders in 2018 than in 2017, theNewsand WABC report.
“We’re looking to close the books on an incredibly successful year,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermont Shea said at a press conference, WABC reported.
To date, 283 people were killed in New York City in 2018, compared to 286 who were murdered in 2017, according to theNYPD website’s Crime Statistics page.
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The number of major crimes has decreased as well. The NYPD has recorded 93,747 major crimes in 2018, down from 95,215 in 2017, theNewsreported.
The one crime that is seeing an increase in numbers is rape, which is 22.4 percent higher than in 2017, according to theNews. Police attribute the rise to an increase in reporting due to the #Metoo movement, theNewsreported.
Neighborhood policing has helped lower the crime rate, WABC reported.
source: people.com
