N.Y.C. subway crime down 37 percent

NEW YORK, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The crime rate in New York City's subways dropped 37 percent so far in 2006, with 318 felonies, compared to 510 in the same period last year, officials said.

In the beginning of 2005, there was a spike in robberies involving cell phones and iPods, but overall robberies are down 21 percent so far this year, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.

Grand larcenies have dropped 46 percent and assaults have fallen 55 percent, police crime statistics show.

While the Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman Paul Fleuranges has attributed the reduction in subway crime to the diligence of the New York Police Department Transit Bureau, the 200 surveillance cameras installed in subway stations might also have something to do with the reduction in crime.

To combat terrorism, the MTA signed a $212-million contract to install subways with 1,000 video cameras and other security equipment.

More than 4,000 cameras will be installed in the subway system by the end of 2007, officials said.