the new york police department released crime statistics monday that showed last month was the safest september on record. city officials said the data further debunk claims of rising crime made at the first presidential debate. at the monthly crime briefing, mayor bill de blasio and nypd commissioner james o<u+2019>neill reported a 3% decline in overall crime so far in 2016, with 10 fewer murders through september than in the same period last year. the data come a week after republican presidential nominee donald trump said in the first debate that murders were up in the city, and that the use of stop-and-frisk had a significant impact on previous declines in crime. <u+201c>i want to always try and dispel the misinformation we heard last monday,<u+201d> said mr. de blasio. <u+201c>the amount of stop-and-frisk activity since its height in 2001 is down 97%,<u+201d> he added. <u+201c>so, affirming once again the clear reduction in the use of stop-and-frisk accompanied by the consistent reduction in crime.<u+201d> there were 97 fewer shooting incidents through september, an 11% decline from the same period a year ago. murders were down 3.7%, from 272 to 262. there were 242,470 arrests over the first nine months, a drop of 7.4% and the lowest level recorded in the era of compstat, the crime-tracking system the nypd has been using since 1994. misdemeanor arrests fell 6.7% and violation arrests were down 55%, while gun arrests were up 11.6%, including 17 incidents over the weekend. assaults on police officers rose 24% to 995. officials credited the city<u+2019>s community-policing program for the reduction of arrests and uptick in gun seizures. starting this month, the nypd<u+2019>s community policing program is expanding again, this time to nine precincts and three housing commands. the neighborhood coordination officers program, the initiative under which officers patrol the same area each day as a way to build relations with residents, is expanding to the ninth precinct in manhattan and 28th precinct in harlem, the 41st precinct in the hunts point area of the bronx, two precincts in south brooklyn, two others in north brooklyn and one each in jamaica and astoria. the program is also expanding to housing projects in brooklyn south, jamaica, queens and manhattan south. this is a crime fighting plan that we have,<u+201d> said commissioner o<u+2019>neill. <u+201c>this is a shared responsibility. we<u+2019>re now over 50% of the precincts throughout the city.<u+201d>
crime and murders are down in new york for 2016 - wsj
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