CIVIC CENTER — Major crime continued to decline this year with the fewest murders recorded for the month of October in the modern CompStat era, NYPD officials said Tuesday.
Crimes including homicide, felony assault and robbery were down by more than 3 percent with 2,967 fewer incidents compared to this time in 2015, according to police. There were 21 murders in October, 10 fewer than during the same month last year.
“It is a really impressive feat that the NYPD keeps setting records and is resolute on the fact we’re going to keep driving crime down,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a press conference.
Rapes were up in October, though, with 11 more incidents compared to 2015, and there was also a small increase in shootings with three additional crimes this past month.
De Blasio touted neighborhood policing, which has been a cornerstone of new Commissioner James O’Neill’s crime fighting strategy.
"We’re not going to stop until we make this city as safe as it possibly can be. But we also have to celebrate the good work of the NYPD," the mayor said. "People are alive and walking the streets when they might not have been otherwise.”
Police started collecting citywide CompStat data in the mid-'90s during Bill Bratton’s first tenure as commissioner.
While crime continued to decline, stop and frisks — another tenet of Broken Windows policing that surged under NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly — were down 97 percent compared with 2011.
“We continue to see consistent decreases in crime as the unconstitutional use of stop and frisk was done away with and precision policing was focused on," the mayor said. "It’s made a huge, huge difference.”
