The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Fewer murder victims were killed on the street. Fewer were under the age of 24. And fewer blacks were slain.
Those findings were part of a recent New York Police Department analysis of the city’s murder rate, which breaks down homicides by location, demographics, weapons and motives for the first 11 months of 2004.
The study suggests the city has become less deadly for young people: This year, the number of victims age 24 and below fell 23 percent, to 188 from 231, through November. For age 25 and above, killings totaled 328, one less than last year.
Among the other findings:
- Homicides committed on the street - the leading location for murder - numbered 178, a 23-percent drop. Killings at private dwellings were down 5 percent to 175, while those inside housing projects rose 11 percent to 68.
- More blacks were killed - 304 - through November than all other races combined, as in 2003. But the total was 13 percent lower than last year. At the same time, white victims jumped 24 percent, to 57 from 46.
- Drug-related murders were up 28 percent, to 126 from 98, while killings linked to gangs numbered 29 - half the total of last year. Domestic homicides totaled 79, compared to 77 over the same period in 2003.