As expected, the NYPD's overall crime rate was down for 2010, but murders, rapes and robberies were up. According to NY1, "the city recorded 526 murders this year, up from 471 in 2009 - a 13 percent increase." The 471 was a record low in the "modern NYPD record keeping" era (the previous record was 496 in 2007; the peak was 1990's 2,245 murders).
Police Commissioner Kelly told NY1, "Crime continues to go down. It's down 1.5 percent for 2010. “We have strategies and tactics that we've put in place that we think work over the long term, and we'll be using them with some adjustments, some embellishments in 2011 that I think will continue to suppress crime in the city."
The uptick in crime (hello, bad old days?) has been blamed on city/NYPD budget cuts. There have also been lingering questions about whether some NYPD precincts are downgrading crimes on purpose in order to massage NYPD crime stats.
