[Gay State Conservative]

I've seen stats (can't recall their source) that suggest that on a per capita basis NYC has a noticeably lower murder rate (the only stats I've seen were for murder rate) than just about any other large of medium sized US city.Any claims that Doomberg & Pals might make that it's because of strict gun laws is silly.Vermont,a neighboring state,has very lax guns laws (surprisingly enough).Virginia,not that far down the road,does as well.One thing I've repeatedly heard is that, starting with Giuliani,the NYPD has had a policy of aggressively addressing small crimes which,it's said,somehow lessens serious crimes.I'm not a criminologist so I'm not sure how that might work,but...

[Alberta's Child]

... the NYPD has had a policy of aggressively addressing small crimes which,it's said,somehow lessens serious crimes.I'm not a criminologist so I'm not sure how that might work,but...

The approach is actually pretty simple. There are two parts to it:

1. Arrest someone for jumping a turnstile or spraying graffiti on the side of a building, and you now have the perpetrator's fingerprints to run through a police database of unsolved crimes.

2. Even if the fingerprint doesn't match the records from any unsolved crimes, you now have a new set of fingerprints on record to identify the perpetrator if he ever commits a crime later. There was a high-profile rape/assault case in Central Park back in the 1990s that was solved this way.

[PapaBear3625]

One thing I've repeatedly heard is that, starting with Giuliani,the NYPD has had a policy of aggressively addressing small crimes which,it's said,somehow lessens serious crimes.I'm not a criminologist so I'm not sure how that might work,but...

Most murderers had prior criminal records. So do most homicide victims (up to 90%). Get habitual criminals off the street, and you reduce homicides.