NYPD: Homicide Rate Up 16 Percent In 2015
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – For a city that prides itself on low homicide rates, a 16 percent increase in murders in New York this year is a grim number.
Gangs with guns and drug dealers are to blame for most murders in the city but Miguel told 1010 WINS' John Montone he feels pretty safe in his West Farms, Bronx, neighborhood.
"(No more gunfire at night?) Not like before, not as much like before. But there's always going to be gunfire, especially in the Bronx, uptown," Miguel said.
In fact, police say the Bronx is the borough where a person is most likely to be murdered, Montone reported, and East New York is the neighborhood with the highest rate of homicides.
Police sources say that as of midnight Sunday, there were 82 murders in 2015, compared to 71 during the same period last year.
Of the increase of 11 murders so far in 2015, six of them are cases that have been reclassified from previous years.
However, most New Yorkers 1010 WINS spoke with say the city is still safer than it once was.
"Way safer. Remember how Times Square used to be? It's nothing like it used to be," Jason said.
While some police officers complain that stop and frisk restrictions are responsible for the spike in homicides, the NYPD said the overall crime rate is down again this year.
Staten Island had the fewest homicides, according to the NYPD.