United States, it Can Be

¶ … United States, it can be stated that from its 25 largest cities, New York shows the lowest level of crime. This situation is a continuous result of fifteen years of change, bringing along a feeling of security in the areas once known as dangerous. "As an example, violent crime in the city has dropped by 75% in the last twelve years and the murder rate in 2005 was at its lowest level since 1963: there were 537 murders that year, for a murder rate of 6.57 per 100,000 people, compared to 2245 murders in 1990. Some feel that the implementation of COMPSTAT crime analysis by the New York Police Department in 1994 is responsible for the positive changes"(Wikipedia Encyclopedia). COMPSTAT is known as the short word for COMPuter STATistics or COMParative STATistics. Weekly, employees from 9 Police Service Areas, 12 Transit Districts and 76 Precincts generate reports which cover the important criminal activities that took place during that particular week. After transferring the data to a computer, other reports are created, these containing comparisons with the results of the previous years.

Moving along to a more practical approach, we should consider the real figures that the years 2003, 2004 and 2005 have brought to surface. In 2003, from a population of 19,212,425 people there were 934 cases of murder, 3,775 of rape, 35,790 of robbery, 48,987 of assault, 75,453 of burglary, 311,422 of larceny theft and 45,204 of vehicle theft. In 2004, from a population of 19,227,088 inhabitants there were 889 cases of murder, 3,608 of rape, 33,506 of robbery, 46,911 of assault, 70,696 of burglary, 311,036 of larceny theft and 41,002 of vehicle theft. In 2005, from a population of 19,254,630 citizens there were 874 cases of murder, 3,636 of rape, 35,179 of robbery, 46,150 of assault, 68,034 of burglary, 302,220 of larceny theft and 35,736 of vehicle theft. By computing the index rates per 100,000 persons, we will discover that these are the following:

In 2003: 4.9 for murder, 19.6 for rape, 186.3 for robbery, 255.0 for assault, 392.7 for burglary, 1,620.9 for larceny theft and 235.3 for vehicle theft

In 2004: 4.6 for murder, 18.8 for rape, 174.3 for robbery, 244.0 for assault, 367.7 for burglary, 1,617.7 for larceny theft and 213.3 for vehicle theft

In 2005: 4.5 for murder, 18.9 for rape, 182.7 for robbery, 239.7 for assault, 351.3 for burglary, 1,569.6 for larceny theft and 185.6 for vehicle theft

Year Population Murder Rape Robbery Assault Burglary Larceny-Theft Vehicle Theft 2003-19,212,425-934 3,775-35,790-48,987-75,453-311,422-45,204-2004 19,227,088-889 3,608-33,506-46,911-70,696-311,036-41,002-2005 19,254,630-874 3,636-35,179-46,150-68,034-302,220-35,736

FBI, Uniform Crime Reports, (http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/nycrime.htm)

As the charts prove, there has been a decrease in the number of murders, larceny thefts, assaults, burglaries and vehicle thefts. As for rape and robbery we can notice that year 2005 has brought a slight increase in the percentage comparatively with the previous year, meaning 2004.

I believe that these drops in criminal activity are not due only to the better coordination of the police compared to the previous years. I must admit, though, that the greatest part may have been achieved by it. How? By employing a greater number of officers; by patrolling the streets more often; by harshening the controls made to prospective criminals; by keeping a more developed database containing names of criminals, pictures and all aspects related to them; by going online with this database (as far as their internal rules permit) and by raising awareness among inhabitants of the city. However, other factors which have determined the fall in the level of criminality can be the following:

Administrative, which could have been imposed by the elected politicians: a change in punishments, increased sanctions, a better illumination of the dark streets in dangerous neighborhoods, augmented incomes of the citizens etc.