Taken in the aggregate, New York City’s seven major crimes categories were down overall by about 2% during the first six months of 2024 when compared to the same time last year, city data shows.

Notably, murders are down about 16% compared with last year, and shooting incidents are down approximately 10%. However, the numbers show other crime, such as rape and robbery, are up compared with 2023.

Speaking with NY1 anchor Dean Meminger, Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard said the positive change was the result of an effort from the entire force.

“We talk about this stuff casually, but this is a lot of hard work by all the members of the NYPD,” Sheppard said. “A lot of hard work goes into that 2% overall crime reduction.”

He said that some categories – like rape, robbery and felony assault – were still up compared to this time last year. And with school out for the summer, Sheppard said the NYPD would be keeping a close eye on city parks as well as quality-of-life issues, which he said can devolve into serious crime.

“Because when you have people out there, you know, drinking, smoking, the dice games come out. Then, all of a sudden, that’s when we have these beefs that turn into shootings. To keep the community safe, we have to address quality of life,” he said. “Kids that want to go out and play, those families should be able to do that without having to worry about anything happening to these young ones while they’re out there – so we’re doing that.”