Crime in NY hits all-time low, but murders outside NYC up - The Journal News | LoHud.com

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Crime rates in New York fell 20 percent over the last decade, continuing a trend that stretches back to the early 2000s. Joseph Spector, Albany Bureau

ALBANY -- Major crimes in New York hit an all-time low in 2016 and fell 20 percent over the past decade, new statistics show.

A total of 375,962 index crimes -- which includes the top seven violent and property crimes -- were reported by police agencies across New York last year, the fewest since statewide reporting began in 1975, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

During the 10-year period, the violent crime rate fell 9 percent, and the property crime rate plummeted 23 percent, continuing a trend that extends into the early 2000s.

“The continued decline in reported crime is a reflection of the work done by law enforcement professionals across the state, which is complemented by alternative to incarceration, re-entry and violence intervention programs that offer training, services, treatment and employment to reduce recidivism and change lives," Mike Green, the executive deputy commissioner for DCJS and the former Monroe County district attorney, said in a statement.

Local crime stats

The crime decline fluctuated by region, and some areas saw a spike in murders between 2015 and 2016, the records showed.

For example, homicides outside New York City grew 10.5 percent between 2015 and 2016 -- from 266 to 294 -- while murders fell in New York City by nearly 5 percent, from 352 to 335.

In Westchester County, the number of murders increased from 17 to 23 over the stretch, while the total number of crimes grew 2.4 percent -- fueled by increases in robberies, burglaries and larcenies.

The total number of crimes in Rockland County fell 5.5 percent between 2015 and 2016, but were up 2.4 percent in Putnam County.

Still, the long-term trends show a steady decline: Crime fell 17 percent in Westchester over the last five years, with even steeper drops of 18 percent in Rockland and 31 percent in Putnam, an analysis of the data by the USA Today Network's Albany Bureau found.

A rise in gang activity in Mount Vernon and Yonkers largely attributed to the increase in murders between 2015 and 2016, said Paul Noto, the first deputy district attorney in Westchester.

"We are addressing that aggressively," Noto said. "But we are pleased that overall crime is down, and we hope to keep it that way."

He said the county tracks crime, such as a rash in burglaries, and deploys law enforcement to problematic areas.

"No one is immune to that," Noto said of home burglaries. "It’s a target-rich environment for people who want to burglarize homes."

Annual changes

Experts said fluctuations in crime from year to year are expected, but it is the long-term trends that should draw the most attention. New York's figures follow a national trend of declining crime.

The state's number of homicides fell 22 percent between 2007 and 2016 -- from 808 to 629 --  while homicides by firearm showed a similar trend, declining 26 percent, according to the state.

"The general trend over the last 15 to 20 years has been a decrease," said Irshad Altheimer, deputy director for the Center for Public Safety Initiatives at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

"Year-to-year fluctuations are just a normal part of violence, and even though we should be concerned, we also should not be overly alarmed."

In another example, violent crimes involving firearms in New York City decreased by 18 percent between 2015 and 2016, with 1,184 fewer crimes reported.

But violent crimes involving a firearm in the 57 counties outside of New York City increased 5 percent, up by 209.

he drop in the murder rate in New York has been extraordinary: It has fallen 76 percent since 1990, when New York had 2,606 homicides.

The starkest drop was in New York City, which had 2,245 murders in 1990 and 335 last year, an 85 percent decline, compared to an 18 percent decline in the rest of the state: from 361 to 293.

Outside NYC

Over the 10-year stretch, though, major crimes fell more outside New York City than in it: down 13 percent in the city and 23 percent in the rest of the state, the data showed.

In fact, violent crimes outside the city fell six times more than in the city, the state said.

There has been anomaly in the data: The state expanded the definition of rape in 2014, leading to an uptick in reported rapes in 2014 and 2015. But over the past two years, the number of rapes was relatively flat.

Green said the decline in crime is also following a trend of fewer people in New York prisons.

The state's prison population fell 28 percent between 1999 and last year -- from a peak of 72,600 to about 52,000. The state has closed about two dozen prisons since Gov. Andrew Cuomo took office in 2011.

"This all-time low in reported crime — the fewest incidents on record since statewide reporting began in 1975 – was also reached at a time when New York’s incarceration declined, so we are clearly doing something right," Green said.

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