New York City’s Crime Rate Plunges

New York City’s overall crime rate dropped 17 percent in 1995, with the steepest decline - 25 percent - in homicides, officials said Sunday.

The numbers, released during a news conference, continue a fouryear downward spiral, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said.

Criminologists say the city is safer thanks to fewer turf wars between crack dealers, a decline in the population of young, crime-prone men, a police officer hiring spree and harsh winters.

But officials of the nation’s largest police department insist they deserve most of the credit. More officers are on patrol at nights and weekends. Police also track crime patterns by computer, deploying patrols based on where and when robbers, drug dealers and gun peddlers are most active.