Murders on the Rise in NYC

NEW YORK (1010 WINS)  -- The city's murder rate has jumped 9 percent this year, fueled by increases in killings in every borough except Queens, according to the latest data from the NYPD. Though major crime is down 5 percent across the city, 239 people have been slain this year, compared with 219 during the same period last year when the murder rate was at a record low.

Police officials said the rise in homicides is not a reason to panic or a signal that the city is becoming more like the early 1990s, when the streets were plagued by random violence and killings.

"This year has seen the second-lowest number of homicides in over 40 years," said Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne. "The only year lower was last year."

NYPD brass also noted that serious crime - including murders, rapes, robberies and felony assaults - has fallen about 22 percent throughout New York in the last five years.

However at the beginning of last week, 81 people had been killed in Brooklyn, up from 79 during the same period last year. So far Brooklyn has more homicides than any other borough this year.

Brooklyn's sprawling 75th Precinct, which covers East New York, and the 71st Precinct, which includes most of Crown Heights, each reported 11 homicides.

The 71st Precinct killings included four separate slayings on a 10-block stretch of President St. between March 31 and April 26. Police added a dozen cops to the precinct in January, but the extra manpower has yet to reduce the murder rate. Still, overall crime in the 71st Precinct is down nearly 9 percent.

"We need more eyes on the street," Deputy Inspector Frank Vega, commanding officer of the 71st Precinct, said last month after a spate of homicides, suggesting that more active community groups could help police.

Homicides in the Bronx are up 14.5 percent, climbing from 55 to 63.

In Manhattan, slayings increased 33 percent, rising from 39 to 52. The spike was fueled by a 68 percent increase in the Manhattan North command, which covers neighborhoods above 59th St.

The number of killings also increased to from 7 to 4 in Staten Island.

In stark contrast to the other boroughs, slayings in Queens are down about percent, dropping to 42 to 36.