NEW YORK (Sputnik) — The crime rate in New York City has dropped dramatically, reaching a historic low of shootings in 2016, New York Police Department (NYPD) Сhief of Crime Control Strategies Dermot Shea said on Tuesday.
"Last year, we recorded 998 shooting incidents in New York City, which is a lot. And my goal is to push it dramatically lower," Shea said in an interview on WNYC radio. "But we had never before been under 1,100 shooting incidents. It was a dramatic drop."
Though the overall crime rate has been progressively reducing, the uptick in rape crimes has become a major concern for NYPD.
"Rape…remains right at the top of things we really want to have positive impact knocking down," Shea said.
The NYPD officer named precision policing and improved communication between law enforcement and local communities as the reasons for dramatic crime rate decrease.
