NYPD: Minorities most frequent homicide victims

The latest NYPD statistics show that this year blacks and Hispanics have been the most frequent victims of homicide in the city, a trend that was mirrored in the race and ethnicity of suspects.

Data released Wednesday by the police showed that so far about 64.1 percent of homicide victims were black, 25 percent Hispanic, 7.1 percent white and 3.3 percent Asian/Pacific Islander. The statistical breakout was similar to what it has been in recent years; it has garnered the attention of black clergy who have devised strategies to try to cope with violence in minority communities.

New York's population, estimated at 8.175 million, is 33.2 percent white, 22.9 percent black and 12.7 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, with the remainder being other groups, census data show. The Hispanic population, which can include other ethnicities, is 28.7 percent.

The breakdown of homicide suspects' race and ethnicity mirrored that of the victims. Murder suspects were 55.1 percent black and 30.8 percent Hispanic, with whites accounting for 10.3 percent of suspects and the remainder Asian/Pacific Islander, according to the data.

Shooting victims in the first six months of this year were most frequently black (71.4 percent) or Hispanic (24.7 percent), police said. Whites were 3 percent of shooting victims, while Asian/Pacific Islander victims account for 0.9 percent, according to the statistics.

Shooting suspects are most frequently described as black (74.7 percent) and Hispanic (21.9 percent), according to police.

Police said information about a suspect's race or ethnicity is provided to investigators by victims, who make a judgment about a suspect.