Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today congratulated Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the men and women of the New York City Police Department, and community members for continuing to reduce crime in New York City, far outpacing the national trend.

New crime statistics comparing January to June 2001 to a comparable time in 2000 released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its Uniform Crime Report (UCR) show that total index crime fell only 0.3% percent nationwide between January and June 2001, while New York City's decline was 7.6%. New York City also experienced the largest percentage decline for the period among the ten largest cities in America. While murder increased nationwide, New York City experienced a 12.8% decrease in the homicide rate.

"It is also of significance that crime has declined by an even more substantial percentage since September 11. Since the day of that horrific attack, crime is down over 12% in NYC. Every year we face the same skepticism," Mayor Giuliani said. "Many question whether it's possible to build upon the dramatic gains we have achieved in crime reduction since 1994. Although there are those who attribute NYC crime reduction as a reflection of a national trend, these just released statistics indicate that while national trends have leveled off, NYC continues to decline. Once again, the NYPD has proved the skeptics wrong. I want to congratulate the men and women of the NYPD, and their partners in the community, for helping to bring about one of the greatest success stories in the history of law enforcement."

"The continuing reductions in crime reflected in this latest FBI study reaffirm what many have come to expect of the NYPD-it is simply the best law enforcement agency in the country," Police Commissioner Bernard B. Kerik said. "I also want to congratulate the men and women of the Department for their continuing dedication and performance."

The FBI's UCR also shows that, among the nine cities with populations greater than one million surveyed by the FBI-Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, and San Diego-New York City continues to show the lowest crime rate. And among the 222 American cities with populations over 100,000, New York City ranks 191st in total crime. Preliminary figures show New York City has moved up for the eighth year in a row; New York City's ranking for calendar year 2000 was 160 out of 205 cities reporting. The FBI's report is comprised of crime data from jurisdictions with populations of over 100,000 for the first half of calendar year 2001, with the number of cities reporting varying slightly from year to year.

Specifically, New York City continues to be safer than cities such as St. Louis (which has the highest crime rate in the nation), Atlanta (which ranks 3rd), Orlando (5), Dallas (10), Phoenix (41), Houston (69), Wichita (82), Philadelphia (94), Boston (100), San Francisco (114), Los Angeles (137), and San Diego (170).

The chart below shows the nationwide percentage changes in crime as compared to New York City for the period January through June 2001, based on preliminary data by the FBI and the New York City Police Department:

JANUARY - JUNE 2001 FBI CRIME STATISTICS

NATIONWIDE	CRIME	NEW YORK CITY
__________________________________________________________________________________
+0.3%	Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter	-12.8%
-1.7%	Forcible Rape	-4.9%
+0.8%	Robbery	-15.2%
-2.4%	Aggravated Assault	-3.6%
-1.2%	Burglary	-17.5%
-0.4%	Larceny Theft	-1.3%
+2.6%	Motor Vehicle Theft	-18.7%
-0.3%	TOTAL CRIME INDEX	-7.6%

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