What London should learn from New York

New York’s famed zero-tolerance approach to crime continues to work its magic. This year murders are on track to fall below 500 for the first time since reliable records began 44 years ago.
 
As of Boxing Day, 484 murders had been recorded in the city during 2007, by far the lowest number since 1963, when there were 548. Before zero tolerance was implemented, New York City murders peaked at an incredible 2,245 in 1990. In other words tough and targeted policing has cut the murder rate by almost 80%.
 
I appreciate you are still more likely to be murdered in New York than London; but New York’s trend is moving distinctly in the right direction. Perhaps some British crime historian might like to give us London’s murder rate in 1963 versus 2007; I have a feeling it will NOT be down 80%.
 
Crime continues to fall dramatically in New York across all categories so that, other than murder, London is now a more dangerous, crime-ridden place than New York.