NYC is on pace to have one of its safest years on record

Crime in New York City is on pace to hit a historic low in 2017, according to data provided by by Police Commissioner James O’Neill this week. 

In a joint press conference with Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday, O’Neill presented the NYPD’s index crime numbers from November, which show that the city is on pace to have one of its safest years on record. 

“Here’s the bottom line, if these trends continue through this month, the people in this city will have had the safest year on record in over half a century,” O’Neill said. “That’s the trajectory we’re on right now.”

The report showed that, year over year, crime in Gotham has dropped in nearly every category from last year. November of this year saw a 20 percent reduction in murders from November 2016. Shootings dropped by 26 percent. Crime overall saw a 5.5 percent reduction. The only two crime categories detailed in the report that rose were rapes and crimes reported in the Transit Bureau, which saw increases of 15.6 and 9.4 percent, respectively.

All of this data shows that last month was the safest November in New York City’s recorded history, O’Neill said.

So while 2017 has been, by many measures, a complete dumpster fire of a year, New Yorkers can at the very least take refuge in the fact that their city is becoming an even safer place to live. 

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