Overall crime down but murders up 30 percent in New York City

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - Newly released crime statistics show that overall crime is down in the city year-to-year but there was a sharp uptick in murders and rapes.  The numbers compared May of 2018 and May of 2017.

There were 34 murders reported in May 2018, compared with 26 in May 2017. This is an increase of 30.7 percent.  Shooting incidents also increased, with 77 incidents reported in May 2018 compared with 67 incidents in May 2017. This is an increase of 14.9 percent.

Rape reports jumped nearly 50 percent with 181 rapes reported in May 2018 compared to 121 in the previous year.

Overall crime reports in the city were down by 1,023 incidents or a 2.7 percent drop year-to-year.  The biggest drop came in burglaries which were down 8.5 percent year-to-year.

The overall numbers are on pace to be record lows.  For comparison, in 1993 there were 171,934 crimes reported in New York City in the first five months of the year.  This year the numbers had dropped to 36,957 for the same period.

Officials cautioned that the crime statistics were preliminary and could be changed.