by William Tucker

About the author: William Tucker is the New York correspondent for the American Spectator,a conservative monthly periodical.

Perhaps it is foolish to be optimistic, but the news on crime of late is not all that bad. First and foremost, crime is finally going down. According to FBI statistics, the overall crime index has declined 11 percent since 1991 and is now the lowest it has been since 1985. Violent crimes are at the lowest since 1989. Murders have declined 13 percent since 1991, rape is at its lowest level since 1989, and burglary at the lowest level in two decades. The trend is fairly uniform across the country, with the biggest cities recording the largest drops.

A Dramatic Drop in Crime

At the top of the list is New York City, where crime has plummeted to...