NYPD Surprised By Precipitous Drop In Murders So Far This Year
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Even the NYPD was surprised upon learning that the murder rate has dropped 25 percent for the first half of 2013 – coming off a record low last year.
"Frankly, probably a year ago -- even as optimistically then as our strategies were working -- we probably didn't think they were working this well," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne.
NYPD Surprised By Precipitous Drop In Murders So Far This Year
As WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported, Browne said the stop-and-frisk program is part of the success. But he didn't credit all of the success with the controversial practice.
"It's in combination with a number of strategies," he said. "It doesn't stand alone."
Putting more emphasis on quickly getting resources to where the crime is, and focusing on gangs, are other strategies that can be credited with the drop, Browne said. Altogether, the murder rate has dropped to 154, compared with 202 for the same period last year.
In fact, for the first 178 days of the year, the city averaged less than a murder a day, according to the New York Times. This was the first time police could recall such a trend for any extended period of time, the newspaper reported.
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