The city of Binghamton has seen a drop in crime rates over the past few months, with violent crime down by 9.7 percent and property crime by 4.4 percent.

These statistics, provided by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), are in stark contrast to Binghamton’s crime percentages over the past decade. Between 2007 and 2008 alone, crime rates increased by more than 15 percent.

This report of decreased crime was released to the public at the same time that city council members were considering making budget cuts to the police force. These cuts would include the removal of 13 positions, which would cut the force to 128 officers.

Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan is pushing for this move after winning the Democratic Party primary on Tuesday, Sept. 15, according to a press release from the mayor’s office.

According to Binghamton Chief of Police Joseph Zikuski, a drop in crime over such a short period of time is not enough to determine if the trend will continue.

“That’s too short of a period of time to actually judge,” Zikuski said. “In fact, normally you need two to five years [to determine a trend], and [crime levels] have increased in that amount of time, but we’re going to have to see over a period of time if it’s actually dropping significantly.”

Zikuski said that seeing the reported statistics is “encouraging,” and that he is optimistic about the crime levels dropping.

Ryan has credited the drop in crime to various crime prevention strategies and initiatives in Binghamton.

“We have also complemented the efforts of our police force by posting significant gains in blight removal, infrastructure upgrades, youth development and job creation,” Ryan said.

Binghamton’s police force has several initiatives to stop crime around the city. One such program is Operation Impact, a state-funded program that gives the Binghamton police force $30,000 a year to spend on new equipment, including specialized GPS units for police cruisers and maps of crime activity around Binghamton, as well as money to pay officers who work overtime.

“[The street crimes unit’s] activity is geared toward wherever activity is taking place on the map,” Zikuski said. “We try to stay right on top of it, see where the crimes are being committed.”

DCJS compiles data on the occurrences of most violent crimes, including murder, robbery and aggravated assault, as well as property crimes such as burglary and grand theft auto.

According to Janine Kava, deputy director of information for DCJS, the agency only collects the data and does not analyze it. She said she could not provide an explanation for the decreases.