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Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
the_noisemaker
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6:40p
Work in progress...800 word essay.
Zero tolerance policing
Zero tolerance policing is a method of crime control which was first used in New York in the mid 1990’s. New York’s police chief, William J Bratton, was the first to have developed this style of policing which was then used in the streets of New York, which then later came to be used by the British metropolitan police in the UK, after shadow home secretary Jack Straw visited NYC in 1995 and witnessed firsthand how this method of policing had made NYC a safer environment for the law abiding to live within and low crime statistics for homicide which stood to prove that “zero tolerance” had been a huge success in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour in NYC.
During the 1980s homicide was at an all time high in NYC as was antisocial behaviour which was considered a major problem too in many other cities across America. With crack cocaine being distributed in huge proportions in NYC the problem of crack cocaine use had become epidemic. Many experts at the time believed that there was a connection between the selling and use of crack and the growing rate of homicide. Because of the nature of drug dealing, many involved in the buying and selling of crack decided that they should carry weapons for protection. Weapons such as guns or knives were used to protect them self’s from being robbed of their money or the illegal substance and because of this homicide rates rose greatly in socially deprived areas of NYC. Police corruption was a major problem too, with drug dealers being robbed of their money and drugs by the actual police themselves, so something had to be done to improve NYC. (brit.j.crimnol – 1999 –zero tolerance or cracks decline – p 531)
Many academics and experts are very sceptical that homicide rates have fallen due to zero tolerance. Many argue that the people who were involved in gang warfare during the 80s and early 90s and who were selling the crack are now imprisoned or have been rehabilitated while in prison, so the homicide rate would become lower because of this, but others argue that the main reason is that people are more educated on drugs such as crack cocaine so are not using the substance, which has stopped supply and demand, and a decline in crime. (brit.j.crimnol – 1999 –zero tolerance or cracks decline)
The Broken windows hypothesis was a sociological theory that William Bratton implemented on zero tolerance policing. The early theory in the 1980s focused mainly on crime that occurred in the NYC subway and transit system and Measures were made to make the subway a safer place. The basic hypothesis on broken windows theory is that if you have a building and a window is broken, if the window isn’t fixed within a few days then other windows will be smashed until the building becomes neglected. The early theory looked towards placing police on foot patrols instead of the police patrolling in vehicles which made people feel safer but this method of placing police on foot patrols later became discredited and considered ineffective in fighting crime.
The later hypothesis which was published in 1996 (Criminological perspectives- Broken windows – the police and neighbourhood safety – J Wilson and G kelling – p 400-411) looked towards the police arresting people for crimes of an antisocial nature, the first broken window, according to the hypothesis is panhandlers (aggressive beggars), followed by squeegee merchants (people who stand at traffic lights and wash cars windscreens), graffiti writers and street drinkers. Zero tolerance involved arresting people who commit crimes such as this, which before, were considered trivial. If crimes such as mentioned were “nipped in the bud”, more serious crimes such as mugging and crimes of violence could be tackled before they are committed. Stop and frisk, known as stop and search in the UK, was a major turning point in tackling homicide because people who were carrying weapons and/or drugs could be caught by using this method of zero tolerance policing. Bratton also increased the NYPD by 20% of the original amount of police officers, which was the equivalent of moving the entire Chicago police department in to a precinct in NYC.
The NYPD also had computer software developed for their use which is called "COMPSTAT". This software is used to generate statistics so that it’s possible to see where certain criminal acts are being carried out in areas of NYC which criminal analysts can use to predict crime and highlight problem areas. (The sage dictionary of criminology – p-59)
However, In the UK, zero tolerance policing began in 1997 when the then in waiting, labour Prime-Minister, Tony Blair, was asked if he agreed with zero tolerance, policing, and his answer was “yes”. In society today, crimes such as street drinking and urinating in public are now dealt with by issuing fines, but behaviour where an individual constantly participates in antisocial conduct, can be dealt with more seriously. Even though the antisocial behaviour might not be an offence which warrants the person being arrested, the individual can be taken to the civil court (magistrates) and be awarded an ASBO – antisocial behaviour order. To breach the order is a crime and the person can then be arrested for breaching the order. Such things as curfew and areas in city centres where an individual might be told they cannot enter are often conditions of an ASBO. Many newspapers have labelled modern day British society as “the ASBO generation”.
Word count - 916
Bibliography
journal of criminology - volume 39 - no 4 - autumn 1999- the rise and fall of New York murder - zero tolerance or cracks decline? Benjamin Bowling.
Criminological perspectives – essential readings – 2nd edition – 2003 –sage publications – (Broken windows – the police and neighbourhood safety – J wilson and G kelling – p 400.)
The Sage dictionary of criminology - Sage -2006
Online newspaper articles –
June 3, 1996 – The New Yorker - Why is the city suddenly so much safer---could it be that crime really is an epidemic? - http://www.gladwell.com/1996/1996_06_03_a_tipping.htm
February 28, 2006, There Are No Cracks in the Broken Windows? By William Bratton & George Kelling - http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/bratton_kelling200602281015.asp
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