City Violent Crime Falls Despite Nationwide Rise, Data Show

Overall violent crime was down by 5.3% in New York City last year despite a national upswing, a preliminary analysis of national FBI crime statistics shows.

Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly yesterday hailed the release of the FBI's preliminary uniform crime report for 2006, which showed that overall violent crime decreased in the city last year, supporting previous assessments. Violent crimes rose by 1.3% nationwide.

The FBI data also showed that among the country's 10 largest cities, New York City had the lowest rate of overall crime per 100,000 people, at 2,517. Dallas had the highest, at 8,063.

Still, the mayor said New Yorkers should be worrying more about crime than terrorism, in spite of the announcement over the weekend that law enforcement agencies had disrupted a plot to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"You are much more likely to be a victim of crime — even in a city as safe of New York — than you are to be a victim of terrorists," Mr. Bloomberg said. "The bottom line is that it's street crime that we have to focus on day in and day out."

The city's homicide rate rose by 10.6% in 2006 following a 12% rise in 2005. The homicide rate was also up in several other large cities, including Chicago and Philadelphia, but dropped in Los Angeles and Dallas. Nationwide, the number of murders increased by.3% in 2006.

Even with an uptick in murders in 2005 and 2006, New York City's homicide rate has dropped precipitously over the past four decades, hitting record lows in recent years.

This year, the murder rate appears to be headed back down. As of May 27, 176 murders had been reported in the city this year, compared to 212 by the same date last year.