NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton Says Homicides Have Dropped Nearly 20 Percent So Far This Year

Something for Bratton and Mayor de Blasio to champion.

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Murders in New York City have reportedly decreased by almost 20 percent compared to this time last year, authorities say. 

Speaking with WCBS 880, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton offered specific details. "There have been 10 fewer murders so far this year versus the same period last year," he explained. Bratton credited the decline to the use of technology and assistance from the community.

"License plate scanning, cameras. It is phenomenal and I think that, along with just good, old-fashioned detective work, really plays a great role in it," he added. Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio hope that community relations can be improved even further through "Verbal Judo," which they believe will result in more effective policing.

However, Bratton wasn't quick to attribute the drop in homicides during the first quarter of the year to the weather. "Oh, Jack Frost is always a policeman’s best friend, so whether it was a factor, we’ll see," he said. "I’ve had years where it’s been a horrific winter and it’s gone up. So I think that might be an old policeman’s tale as much as anything."

[via CBS New York]

RELATED: A Recent History of NYPD Brutality

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