NEW YORK’S MR. AUSTERITY: Michael Bloomberg’s N.Y. Violent Crime Sky Rockets ~ Murders Up 11% Rapes 13%, People Shot 7%

NYPD says murders jumped 11%, rapes rose 13%, 7% more people shot.

Halfway through the year, crime has increased in all but one of the most violent felonies, and shootings plague neighborhoods all over the city.

The overall crime rate through June 27 is down 1% percent, thanks to a 7% drop in grand larcenies. The other six categories of major felonies, however, are up.

Murders have jumped 11%, to 221 from 199, and rapes are up 13%, from 555 to 629. More people have been shot this year, 799 compared to 748, a 7% increase.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, NYPD‘s top spokesman, said the agency changed its strategy after noticed that most of the recent shootings occurred outside, after midnight.

He also said the NYPD is fighting its own success, as last year’s murder tally was the lowest in at least 47 years.

Tom Reppetto, a police historian and former head of the Citizens Crime Commission, said the murder rate was higher earlier in the year and that police have done a good job “holding the line.”

New York Daily News