Crime in New York City has dropped, providing an upside for the police department that has recently been under fire for its tactics.

This news appears to reaffirm the idea of punishing petty crimes in order to deter larger ones, according to The Associated Press.

Police Commissioner William Bratton's methods have come under intense scrutiny after the choking death of Eric Garner, an unarmed African-American man who was caught for the minor offense of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes.

But Bratton has maintained that these methods have been working, and the same tactics he developed in the 1990s to create civility and order in the five boroughs is the reason why crime has decreased today.

Mayor Bill de Blasio supported the tactics, saying the idea of punishing criminals is the reason why the city is safer today.

Crime has declined 4.7 percent for the year, through Dec. 14, compared to the same time last year. Murders have dropped 5.3 percent and reports of robberies are down 14 percent.

On the contrary, misdemeanor arrests increased, from 463 total last year to 515 this year, and the pace of arrests has been uninterrupted since Garner's death.

De Blasio met with protesters Friday but continued to reject violence against police, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The group, Justice League NYC, said that despite being able to meet with the mayor, the problems still exist.

"One meeting will not end decades of discriminatory police practices and therefore we will continue to be on the streets," the group said in a statement.

Another silent protest is scheduled for Sunday in Harlem.

And many of the tactics that have been criticized and some that have been scaled back, such as stop and frisk, are being credited as reasons for a decrease in crime.

A federal judge ruled against the stop and frisk tactic because it unfairly targeted minorities, which has resulted in a decrease -- from 700,000 in 2011 to less than 50,000 this year.