A disturbing spike in murders and other serious crimes is leading city officials to believe the NYPD’s famed “blue line” is growing way too thin.

“It is worrisome,”Mayor Bloomberg said on his radio show yesterday, noting that Police “Commissioner [Ray] Kelly and I talked at length about it.”

“We have fewer police officers than we did before,” the mayor said. “More cops always helps.”

So far this calendar year, the number of New York City murders has jumped a scary 22 percent over the same period last year — from 86 slayings up to 103 this year.

In addition to murders, the number of shootings has soared to 246 — a 21.2 percent jump over the same period last year.

There are also more “abductions”, which are up 11.3 percent, and felony assaults, which have spiked nearly 6 percent. Burglaries have increased 3.6 percent.

Bloomberg noted that the total number of such crimes is “still very low” compared to the sky-high rates seen in years such as 1990, when murders hit an annual record of 2,245.

But he and others admit that the NYPD’s shrinking manpower level — from 41,000 cops in 2001 down to about 35,000 today — could be playing a factor in the increased crime rates. The city expects to shed around 1,300 officers in the upcoming fiscal year through attrition, and also is threatening to lay off a whopping 3,150 cops if the state slashes related funding.

One top police official said, “There are just a lot less people out there . . . the type of presence we have had that deters shootings.”

Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said, “The lack of uniformed police officers patrolling neighborhoods has emboldened criminals who once again feel free to carry guns and use them in their crimes.

“These ominous statistics can be the start of the downward spiral that leads us to the dangerous conditions that chase good families and businesses out of the city.”

But Kelly warned, “It’s too early to draw conclusions,” and said that a so-far short-term bump in murder and other serious crime “is not something that the public should be particularly concerned about.”

Thomas Reppetto, former president of the New York City Citizens Crime Commission, said that in the past two decades, the NYPD has reversed upward blips in the crime rate by “moving their resources around” and “designing anti-crime missions.”

“Someday, they will not have the resources, the personnel to reverse the numbers. Maybe this is the day,” Reppetto said.

(Source: http://www.nypost.com/)