Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today announced that New York City continues to reduce overall crime to levels not seen in decades and remains the safest big city in America according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for the first six months of 2005. According to the report, the City experienced a 3.4% drop in overall crime compared to 2004 figures. In the violent crime category, New York City experienced a 2.8% decrease, a drop of nearly six times the national decline of 0.5%. The City's the reduction in property crime by 3.6% also outpaced the national rate of 2.8%.
"Once again, New York City has the distinction of being America's safest big city. We've not only maintained that position, but improved upon it, making America's safest big city even safer," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Today's report by the FBI shows that we are decreasing crime in nearly every category across New York City and most importantly, our decrease in violent crime outpaces the nation by nearly six times. I want to thank the brave men and women of the NYPD for this remarkable achievement."
"This latest report reflects the focused crime fighting of the men and women of the Police Department, often at great risk and sacrifice," said Police Commissioner Kelly.
The crime categories with the largest reductions citywide include homicide, down 14.4%; motor vehicle theft is down 13.2%; rape is down 12.7% and burglary is down 11.2%. Aggravated assault and larceny also experienced a decrease while robbery experienced a slight increase of 1.7%.
Out of the nation's 10 and 25 largest cities, New York City ranked the safest with the lowest overall crime rate. Among cities with 100,000 residents or more, New York City ranked 211th out of 227 cities, between Alexandria, Virginia and Edison Township, New Jersey.
% Change from January to June 2004 vs. 2005
| Nationwide |
Crime |
New York City |
| +2.1% |
Murder |
- 14.4% |
| -4.7% |
Rape |
- 12.7% |
| +0.6% |
Robbery |
+1.7% |
| - 0.7% |
Assault |
- 5.5% |
| - 0.5% |
Violent Crime |
- 2.8% |
| -1.1% |
Burglary |
- 11.2% |
| - 3.5% |
Larceny Theft |
- 0.2% |
| - 2.1% |
Motor Vehicle Theft |
- 13.2% |
| - 2.8% |
Property Crime |
- 3.6% |
| N/A |
Total Index |
- 3.4% |
The following chart shows where New York City ranked in the total crime index for the nation's 10 largest cities.
Rank
Six Months 2005
|
City |
Rate |
| 1 |
Dallas |
4270.6 |
| 2 |
Phoenix |
3704.9 |
| 3 |
Detroit |
3700.6 |
| 4 |
Houston |
3430.4 |
| 5 |
San Antonio |
3364.0 |
| 6 |
Las Vegas |
2825.7 |
| 7 |
Philadelphia |
2579.1 |
| 8 |
San Diego |
2059.1 |
| 9 |
Los Angeles |
1908.8 |
| 10 |
New York |
1281.9 |
