There were fewer homicides and shootings but more rapes in New York City in the first three months this year compared to last year, according to statistics from the New York Police Department.
The statistics were first reported in Monday's New York Daily News.
Murders are down 21 percent -- from 111 to 88 -- and shootings are down 14 percent in the first three months of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.
Two crimes that have seen noticeable increases are rapes and felony assaults. There were 340 rapes in the first three months of the year, compared with 274 the same period in 2010, an increase of 24 percent. Felony assaults went up 6 percent, or 3,795 over 3,597.
Police told the Daily News the increase in rapes could be a result of greater awareness among women, which led to higher rates of reporting. Just one in six rapes are reported to police in New York State, according to the state Department of Health, but nine out of 10 rape victims know who attacked them.
Citing these statistics, a police spokesman told the News that the increase in rapes "indicates a willingness of victims to come forward, even when they know their assailant."
The drop in other crime comes after a one-year increase in homicides in 2010, when there were 536 murders, a 14 percent increase over 2009.
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There were 471 murders in 2009, the lowest ever since 1963, when the city began tracking reliable statistics.
Since 2000, murders are down 21 percent, and rapes, robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, and grand larcenies are all down at least 30 percent.
The other major felony crimes -- robberies, grand larcenies, burglaries and auto theft and break-ins -- are down marginally through three months.
East New York is the city's most violent neighborhood in New York, according to statistics coming out of the 75th District, with 682 felony complaints. The 20th Precinct on the Upper West Side of Manhattan is the safest.
