When our Administration took office 18 months ago, the “smart money” was that the worsening economy and budget cutbacks would erode the crime-fighting gains made by the last Administration. Well, even though we’ve lost 3,000 police officers through attrition, and also taken on new anti-terrorism responsibilities, the smart money has been proved wrong. We’ve pinpointed the neighborhoods hit hardest by crime, made better use of technology, and gotten criminal justice agencies to work together more effectively. The result: we’re continuing to drive crime to historic lows—down nearly 8% so far this year and 13% over the last two years.

A big reason for that success has been Operation Impact. Back in January, the NYPD identified areas still being hit hard by shootings and other serious crimes. Then they “flooded the zone,” pouring hundreds of new and experienced officers into these “impact” areas. Over the first six months of the year, serious crimes were reduced 35%, and shootings were down 41%, in the impact zones. Operation Impact has been so successful that we’re going to continue to fund it through police overtime for the next several months, and then commit new officers to the program from the next class of Police Academy graduates in December.

But the NYPD doesn’t work alone. That’s why we’ve also stressed more and better cooperation among the police, prosecutors, courts and other criminal justice agencies. For example, we’ve discovered that about 6% of chronic lawbreakers commit 28% of serious misdemeanors. Flagging them at arrest, and prosecuting them in special courts, has led to 46% of such defendants receiving longer jail sentences—57% getting sentences of at least 30 days. The same strategy is working for felons who violate probation sentences. And in Brooklyn, we’re targeting criminals arrested in firearms cases that originate in police precincts accounting for 25% of all the shootings in the city. What do all these innovations have in common? A strategy that works: focusing on problem people and problem places.

We’re also making smarter use of technology. A year ago, prosecutors sometimes had to wait months to get tapes of 911 calls in domestic violence cases. Now they can call them up immediately from computers in their offices, and play them in court to show how dangerous batterers are. By the end of the month, the city’s D.A.’s will be able to access all 911 calls for any crime. This is a great step forward, and over the next two years our Administration will roll out other crime-fighting technology innovations.

Last Tuesday, I welcomed more than 1,300 new recruits to the Police Academy. They’re joining the greatest police department in the world—one that’s defied the odds to make New York the safest big city in the nation. With their help, that’s a title we intend to hold.