The murder rate in New York City has continued its decline through the first half of 2013, falling 25 percent compared to the same period last year, which ended with the fewest killings since the sixties. Shootings are following an even better pattern, down 26.4 percent through June, which the NYPD owes to a combination of loading certain “impact zones” with extra officers and its “Operation Crew Cut” anti-gang initiatives. “This isn’t a return to the good old days,” said a professor specializing in crime trends, “this is breaking new ground.”
