Quiet day at the station as New York goes crime-free

NEW YORK - Reuters

Skateboarders pass through Times Square during a race. REUTERS photo

New York City passed a day without a single report of a person being shot, stabbed or subject to other sorts of violent crime for the first time in recent memory, police said Nov. 28.

The rare day occurred on Nov. 26, near the end of a year when the city’s murder rate is on target to hit its lowest point since 1960, according to New York Police Department chief spokesman Paul Browne.

Browne said it was “first time in memory” the city’s police force had experienced such a peaceful day. While crime is up 3 percent overall, including a 9 percent surge in grand larceny police attribute to a rash of smart phone thefts, murder is down 23 percent over last year, the department said.

As for a day without violent crime, experts said they could not recall that happening in recent memory. “In a city of 8 million people, this is extremely rare,” said Tom Repetto, author of “American Police, 1949-2012.”