NYPD to Increase Interrogations

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NYPD to step up detailed questioning of prisoners to fight back against 22% increase in murders

The NYPD is responding to a 22% increase in murders this year with renewed attention to detail - and a sense of urgency as summer approaches.

Police brass have ordered detectives and warrant squad officers to thoroughly question all prisoners - even small fish in for minor crimes - with an eye toward squeezing out info on bigger fish, police sources said.

NYPD bigs want to churn up more street-level intelligence on illegal guns and drug dealers in the hopes it will lead to information on unsolved murders - and fight back against a troubling trend in the city's murder rate.

"None of this is really new. It's what normally happens when the numbers go up," said one high-ranking police source.

"The concern now is that as it gets warmer, more people are out on the street," he said. "That's when you get more of the arguments that start over nothing and turn into something."

The citywide murder rate has ballooned to 97 in the first 11 weeks of the year, compared with 79 in the same period last year- a startling 22.3% rise.

Shootings are also on the rise across the five boroughs, with 293 people hit by bullets so far this year. That's a 16.3% change from the 252 shooting victims recorded as of March 21 last year.

The NYPD's top spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, did not return a call or e-mail seeking comment.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/03/29/2010-03-29_nypds_moving_to_curb_warmweather_offenses.html#ixzz0jbH1NBeg