The New York Police Department says statistics show that last month was the safest September on record. City officials said the data further debunk claims of rising crime made by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump last month at the first presidential debate, reports the Wall Street Journal. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O’Neill reported a 3 percent decline in overall crime in 2016, with 10 fewer murders through September than in the same period last year. Trump said murders were up in the city, and that the use of stop-and-frisk had a significant impact on previous declines in crime.
De Blasio said, “The amount of stop-and-frisk activity since its height in 2001 is down 97 percent …affirming once again the clear reduction in the use of stop-and-frisk accompanied by the consistent reduction in crime.” There were 97 fewer shooting incidents through September, an 11 percent decline from the same period a year ago. Murders were down 3.7 percent from 272 to 262. There were 242,470 arrests over the first nine months, a drop of 7.4 peercent and the lowest level recorded in the era of CompStat, the crime-tracking system the city has been using since 1994. Gun arrests were up 11.6 percent. Officials credit the city’s community-policing program for the reduction of arrests and uptick in gun seizures. Starting this month, the community policing program is expanding again, this time to nine precincts and three housing commands.