Violent crime takes a rare day off in New York

No one shot, stabbed or subjected to violent attack for the first day in living memory in New York City

No one died: violent crime fails to take place across New York City.
Photograph: Murdo Macleod

 

New York City achieved a rarity on Monday – for 24 hours there was not a single report of a person being shot, stabbed or subjected to violent crime, police have revealed.

New York police department chief spokesman Paul Browne said it was "first time in memory" that the city's police force had experienced such a peaceful 24 hours.

It comes at the end of year when the city is on target to have its lowest murder rate since 1960.
While crime is up 3% overall, including a 9% surge in grand larceny that police attribute to a rash of smartphone thefts, murder is down 23% year on year, the NYPD said.

Tom Repetto, author of American Police, 1949-2012, said he could not recall such a crime-free day as Monday. "In a city of 8 million people, this is extremely rare," he said.

There have been 366 murders in the city so far this year, compared with 472 at this time last year, according to the NYPD.

By comparison, Chicago, Illinois, a city of 2.7 million people, has been plagued by gang violence and has registered 462 murders in 2012. Philadelphia, with a 1.5 million population, has recorded 301 murders in 2012, the exact same number as this time last year.

Repetto attributed New York's success to proactive police department tactics, including its controversial stop and frisk policy. Critics have argued that the dramatic increase in searches has not led to a similar rise in gun seizures, but the NYPD said the proactive tactics had made criminals think twice about taking their guns out on the street.