New York crime on increase since September 11
Crime is on the increase in New York as a result of the terrorist attack on September 11.
The eight-year strong crackdown on crime is under pressure as ‘squeegee’ merchants, people who wash car windscreens at traffic lights, have returned to the city’s streets.
These disappeared from the city’s streets under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s zero-tolerance policy when he took office eight years ago. ‘Squeegees’ were branded "extortionists" by Mayor Giuliani and forced out as police issued court summons to anyone seen using dirty rags on cars stopped at traffic lights.
The trend is being blamed on a lack of resources at the New York Police Department as officers’ struggle with increased security duties around high profile buildings, airports and public events.
Violent crime is also feared to be on the increase as specialist officers are reassigned from tackling gangs in areas like the Bronx. Broadway and Fifth Avenue have been flooded with illegal sidewalk vendors selling counterfeit watches, sunglasses, CDs and videos.
However, Mayor Giuliani said that the re-emergence of street vendors is a "seasonal" issue and would be tackled, adding the same problem happened last year and the year before.
The latest rise in crime in New York is threatening to stop the police department publishing the lowest murder rate figures since 1963. Mayor Giuliani credited the police for the cut in crime during his office, claiming it was the city’s boom in jobs, which led to the fall in crime.
