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New York City passed a day without a single report of a person being shot, stabbed or subject to other sorts of violent crime for the first time in recent memory, police said on Wednesday.

The rare day occurred on Monday, near the end of a year when the city's murder rate is on target to hit its lowest point since 1960, according to Paul Browne, chief spokesman for the New York Police Department.

Browne said it was "the first time in memory" the city's police force had experienced such a peaceful day.

While crime is up 3 percent overall - including a 9 percent surge in grand larceny, which police attribute to a rash of smart-phone thefts - murder is down 23 percent from last year, the police department said.

As for a day without violent crime, experts said they could not recall that happening in recent memory. "In a city of 8 million people, this is extremely rare," said Tom Repetto, author of American Police, 1949-2012.

Repetto attributed New York's success to "proactive" police department tactics, including its controversial stop-and-frisk policy.

While critics have charged that the dramatic rise in stops has not led to a similar increase in gun seizures, police officials have countered by saying that proactive tactics have made criminals think twice about taking their guns out on the street.

There have been 366 murders in New York this year, compared with 472 at this time last year.

By comparison, Chicago, Illinois - a city of about 2.7 million people that has been plagued by gang violence this year - has registered 462 murders so far this year, according to the Chicago Police Department.

In Philadelphia, a city of about 1.5 million people, there have been 301 murders this year, the same number as this time last year.

Questions:

1. What did the New York Police Department celebrate this week?

2. What was it attributed to?

3. How many people live in New York City?

Answers:

1. A day without violent crime.

2. Proactive police department tactics, including its controversial stop-and-frisk policy.

3. 8 million.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.