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I can believe that they are downgrading crimes, and not reporting all crimes...but that has ALWAYS been happening, and happens at ALL precincts across the country (and world for that matter), so its moot. However, you believe that somehow they are hiding bodies, and hypnotizing the family members/friends/witnesses that these dead people never existed, and erasing all records of their birth, education, employment, so that they never existed...and then the police are hiding their bodies so they can never be "discovered". Is that what I am supposed to believe? Come on folks, the X-Files is a good movie but it is JUST A MOVIE. The reason why crime and murder is down across the city is because we are a less violent society, and NYC has stepped up and gotten safer and better..that's why. Not because cops are hiding dead bodies.
I believe the homicide numbers for Wash Heights main reason being the vast majority of the crime there is drug related. Most of the dudes out on the corner are petty weed dealers. It's not like during the crack era where you had all these cocaine cowboys battling for turf. These guys are making a little money, and some a handful make a lot of money, but it's not like the crack days, the incentive to kill and battle for turf is not there. Now if a drug hits the streets like crack did, it could get ugly quick again. But fortunately that has not happened.
Agreed NYur81...something like 80% of murders in NYC are drug related...what's the moral? STAY OUTTA OF THE DRUG TRADE. If your homies are getting involved in it, stay away from your homies. The drug dealers have learned not to blow up their drug spots (shootouts etc) because that only serves to bring heat to their spot, why would you hurt your own business? They are more discreet and operate without all the drama b/c thats more profitable = less violent crimes and murder. Pretty simple. Sure there are always the dummies who are gonna shoot up somebody, but that is increasingly rare b/c its bad for business, and if you bring that kind of attention to someone else's spot, you are dealt with. But keeping with topic, the stats are a guide and not bible....and anyone who has actually LIVED in NYC for 20+ years (or even 10) will know the crime stats reflect the massive increase in safety.
^^^Fudging stats has been going on in NYC for ever. Some smaller cities like Baltimore, Miami, and Washington do it to. I know this because my brother is a cop. What they do is reduce, don't report, and lose paperwork. (or verifiable information). You also have to remember that cops control the information. They will tell the family what they want the family to know. Most people don't think to question the police, when a cop tells you something is manslaughter. We just go along with it. We don't have power.The strategy most used is simple, they reduce murders to manslaughter. This happens much more than you would think. They also just dont report it to the massess and lose the paperwork. Now those numbers are fudged. If you can't find the paperwork, you cant count it in your total. Then you have to understand how many homicides which aren't found until the previous year, those usually get scratched. Every homicide is not out in the open. Most murders are buried, thrown in the river or burnt. But from what my brother says changing the status is how they keep it low the most. If you have a hundred legit murders and lose ten to paperwork, change twenty to manslaughter, and just neglect to report ten more. Your beautiful city with a 100 murders has just fallen to sixty. Doesn't look to bad now.
PS. If your feeling deep down like something isn't right. Your right, it isn't. Trust your instincts.
Good points Slick...there is no doubt that those things occur across the board in every state/city/community. However, like you said, trust your instincts, and I have lived in NYC for decades and can tell you unequivocally, that the changes and increased safety over that time is not a hallucination, nor is it my opinion based on the crime stats. As a longtime resident, I see the improved safety first hand, feel it every day, and so does everyone else. So although the crime stats are not bible, they are a good guide and my personal experience jives with the stats.
I think they do cover up some murders, but nothing on a LARGE scale. Like SobroGuy says, OVERALL to a person that has seen the change, they personally know there has been a good change in NYC.
That said, after a party I went to last year in July, one of the guys that was in the party got killed at around 3:00 am on 51st, 5th avenue of my neighborhood of Sunset Park in a gang fight. He was stabbed to death. I checked the NYPD stats and the number stayed at 6 until like december when there was 2 more murders.
You think maybe because this guy was an illegal immigrant, his death wasn't documented for some reason?
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