It has been a long, hot summer in the city, but not on the streets. While some high-profile shootings and murders have grabbed headlines, Police Commissioner William Bratton says crime has taken something of a holiday. NY1's Dean Meminger filed this report.
"June to the end of August, we closed our crime numbers yesterday. This was the safest summer we've had in 25 years, in terms of shootings and murders," Bratton said on MSNBC Tuesday.
After a spike in shootings and murders early in the year, the NYPD began its "Summer All Out" program one month early. moving hundreds of officers from desk jobs into the streets and paying more overtime to further increase patrols.
NY1 previously reported that in June and July, murders where down 20 percent and shootings were down by 12 percent compared to last year.
Bratton says August was a good month as well, bucking a national trend of rising murder rates in many cities.
While violence was down the summer, though, murders remain up for the year and senseless killings continue.
"Sixty percent of ours murders in this city are over disputes, seemingly innocuous things to most people, but rise to the levels where people will kill each other," Bratton said.
Asked on the "Morning Joe" program what's behind the violence, Bratton pointed to the much debated report by Daniel Patrick Moynihan from the 1960s about the problems facing the black community.
"Go read that again. Talk about being prescient about what was going to happen in black society in terms of—he was right on the money—the disintegration of family, the disintegration of values. It’s gone beyond just the black community," Bratton said.
Communities United for Police Reform quickly fired back at Police Commissioner Bratton.
In a statement, it said: “Bratton has now once again promoted regressive and racist views that seek to place blame for crime and other societal challenges on the 'values' of Black families and those of other New Yorkers of color.”
Bratton said re-examining and focusing on the issue of crime will yield positive changes and make the city safer.