It’s safer to be in Afghanistan, isn’t it?

NEW YORK — New York City recorded a double-digit increase in murders during 2010, with more than half the victims shot to death by someone they knew, likely related to drugs, according to preliminary figures from the police department Monday.

As of Dec. 31, there were 532 murders, up 13 percent from 2009. Rape, robbery and felony assault were all also up, but total crime was down 2 percent.

New York Police Department officials say the numbers, though a concern, aren't overly alarming when put in the context of dramatic crime-fighting gains since 1990. The city had a record 2,245 homicides that year.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40899310/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/