Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today announced that New York City remains the safest big city in America, according to the FBI's Crime in the United States, the preliminary Uniform Crime Report for 2009. The report shows that total crime decreased by 5.1 percent in New York City during 2009, outpacing national trends. Murders fell by 9.9 percent, compared to 7.2 percent nationwide. According to NYPD Compstat data, crime is down an additional 1.5 percent citywide for the first five months of the year when compared to 2009 levels.

"The NYPD and their partners in law enforcement continue to prove they can find ways to further drive down crime, even while faced with the impacts of a severe economic downturn and as the City remains the number one target for terrorists seeking do to harm - something we all were reminded of once again just this month," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We will continue doing everything possible to keep making the safest big city in the county even safer."

"This report reflects the great work New York City Police Officers do every day to suppress crime," Police Commissioner Kelly. "Some people thought crime could not keep falling, but our police officers have continued to drive crime down year after year. In a city as large as New York every percentage drop in crime equals thousands of fewer victims over the course of a year."

According to data included in the FBI report, of the 25 largest cities in the country New York City again recorded the lowest Index Crime rate, ranking safest. Of the 263 U.S. cities with populations larger than 100,000, New York's crime rate ranked 245th, placing it between Garden Grove, California and Sunnyvale, California. No other City with more than 262,000 people ranked safer than New York City.

Percentage Change in Index Crime from 2008 - 2009, According to FBI Data