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Homicides Are Down, But Shootings Are Up
By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 26, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Aug 26, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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While the crime and murder rates are down, the numbers of shootings in the city is up versus last year. Newsday's article proposes a few theories: (1) Less police visibility on the street, perhaps due to the NYPD being more concerned with terrorist activity; (2) the disbandment of the Street Crime Unit, which was involved in the shooting of Amadou Diallo; (3) the heat wave of late; and (4) not "clamping down" on gun activity immediately. The NYPD has reportedly shifted some of its officers to focus on gun crimes in order to manage the situation, but looking at some of the statistics shows some areas experiencing 50-85% increases in shootings.
And speaking of shooting incidents, a man killed his cousin while "playing" Russian roulette in their Bronx apartment. Sigh. See crime statistics from the NYPD here .
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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