GOTHAM GRIPPED BY SUMMER CRIMEWAVE
By Thomas Drury
Staff Reporter
Police officials confirmed yesterday what Gotham City residents have known for months: that the metropolitan area is currently enduring a major spike in violent crime. Homicide, assault, armed robbery, and other major crimes are at their highest rates since 1974, according to Commissioner James Gordon.
Gordon and his associates refused to reply to the widely held belief that the spike is directly tied to the disappearance and presumed death of the masked vigilante known only as "the Batman," last seen over six months ago.