New Yorkers are feeling more anxious about crime, but statistics show the rate is actually at a historic low,
The New York Times reports.
Major felonies in 2015 saw a 2 percent decrease over the previous year, while arrests by officers fell 13 percent, down from 384,770 through December 20, 2014 to 333,115 through the same date in 2015.
Criminal summonses dropped from 358,948 to 292,372.
Murders rose slightly. There were 339 as of December 25, compared to 333 in 2014, but that year was a historic low. The city saw 536 murders five years ago.
Gun violence spiked early in the year, but 2015 ended with a decrease there as well.
"As we end this year, the City of New York will record the safest year in its history, its modern history, as it relates to crime," Police Commissioner William Bratton said during a December 17 promotion ceremony, the he also noted the year had been "terrible" for the department because four officers had died in the line of duty.
Still, increased homelessness has made New Yorkers feel less safe, and protests over the deaths of black residents such as Eric Garner in Staten Island have brought heightened awareness.
Fears that police were holding back in light of the protests, thus increasing crime, appear not to have come to fruition, according to the Times.
Ray Kelly, who preceded Bratton as commissioner, said last week that shootings might have been undercounted, but NYPD chief spokesman Stephen Davis said shootings were counted by the same method they were when Kelly was commissioner.
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