ASSOCIATED PRESS
By Colleen Long
NEW YORK — New York City recorded its fewest number of shootings last year and narrowly missed setting a record low for homicides.
According to data released Wednesday, the city had 335 homicides in 2016. The city’s record low was 333 in 2014.
Police officials reported 998 shooting incidents in 2016.
Overall crime was also at its lowest.
Crime continues to drop even as police make fewer arrests for low-level infractions now handled through tickets. They’ve also reduced use of the stop-and-frisk technique.
Police Commissioner James O’Neill says the numbers “are not by accident.” He says they are the result of careful police strategies and increased work with communities.
Modern record keeping began in the late 1990s with the creation of the department’s crime-tracking data system.
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