Story highlights NYPD reported the lowest numbers of crimes since modern record-keeping began

Headline contrasts with Chicago, which reported its bloodiest year in nearly two decades

New York (CNN) New York City just had its safest year on record.

That was the message on Wednesday as police leaders and the city's mayor gathered to tout year-end statistics, which tallied the lowest total of crimes reported since the NYPD started keeping such data.

It's a message that contrasts sharply with America's Second City, Chicago, which earlier this week reported its bloodiest year in nearly two decades. And it's why Chicago's top cop visited New York last month, NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said.

"We told them what we were doing," O'Neill said at a news conference in Brooklyn. "We're identifying the people in the communities -- and it's a very small percentage of the people -- involved in the violence and we're using all of our resources toward that end. That's what we're doing right."

Precision policing, as law enforcement calls the method, combined with an emphasis on community interaction, brought the city its success, officials said.

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