…It was against that backdrop that I took office. Many elements of the city required dramatic change. Because I had run on a platform of increasing public safety, and because that's where my background was strongest, I decided that the first problem I'd tackle would be in that arena.
The goal was to turn around the view people had of New York City as a dangerous place. But I couldn't do that all at once. I couldn't go from 2,000 murders a year to none, nor wave a magic wand to transform people walking the streets in terror to people whistling happy tunes.
