Coverage Of Cases Involving Black Suspects Outpaced Historical Arrest Rates From NYPD Statistics. In stories where race could be identified, the percentage of African-American suspects in murders, thefts, and assaults covered by WCBS, WNBC, WABC, and WNYW was well above the percentage of African-American suspects who have been arrested for those crimes in New York City. According to averages of arrest statistics from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for the past four years, African-American suspects were arrested in 54 percent of murders, 55 percent of thefts, and 49 percent of assaults. Meanwhile, over the past three months, the suspects in the four stations' coverage of murders were 68 percent African-American, the suspects in their coverage of thefts were 80 percent African-American, and the suspects in their coverage of assaults were 72 percent African-American. WABC Covered Crime The Most, While WNYW Covered It The Least. In the past three months, WABC reported on crime much more than the other three stations, with 154 suspects mentioned in its reports. The race of 98 of those suspects could be identified, 75 of whom were African-American. In contrast, WNYW mentioned only 38 suspects in its reports on crime. The race of 23 of those suspects could be identified, 19 of whom were African-American. WNBC aired the second-most coverage of crime, mentioning 105 suspects in its reports. The race of 82 of those suspects could be identified, 60 of whom were African-American. WCBS mentioned 80 suspects in its reports on crime. The race of 52 of those suspects could be identified, and 35 of them were African-American.
