Criminal Justice POL 217

Part 1)Broken Windows” by Wilson and Kelling shaped a generation of policing theory.  It brought about a major philosophical shift in policing.  Much of the research generated in the 1960’s and 1970’s argued that law enforcement had a minimum effect on deterring crime,which people believed was caused by sociological factors (Sociological theory).  Wilson and Kelling argued that deterring small crimes would also deter larger crimes because  broken windows, graffiti and urban decay (literally) or minor infractions (metaphorically) gave the impression that no one was watching or cared and that there would be impunity and no consequences for any transgressions.  

Wilson and Kelling argued that in order to stop the large crimes, police should first stop the small crimes so that citizens would feel safe.  This inevitably transformed into “broken windows policing” whereby minor violations that had previously been tolerated such as jumping the turnstile, squeegiemen, being in a park after dark, smoking marijuana or drinking in public would be enforced by stop and frisk and subsequent arrests.  The idea was that by casting a wider net, (some may say a “dragnet”) police would have more reasons to encounter potential criminals and detect serious crimes; people with warrants for violent crimes, weapons, felony weight drugs.  https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-break-the-broken-windows-spell-20190526-ulwcdd7fnjg4fgv6dnskls6vhi-story.html

While New York City argues that is has moved away from this philosophy of “broken windows policing” some argue that stop and frisk was not the logical conclusion of broken windows and much of the nuance was lost.  For example, what do Wilson and Kelling say about the cops on the “beat” in Newark and how they should enforce the local norms like drinking from a paper bag?  Do they argue that it should always be an arrestable offense, as it became in NYC?  The article was as much an argument for a return to community policing and foot patrol or “beat cops” that largely disappeared between 1940-1990 after the invention of the Radio Motor Patrol “RMP”.

Answer the following questions:

1) Outline the general argument of Wilson and Kelling’s Broken Windows.  Do you agree or disagree with their theories?  Which parts do you find most or least convincing?

2) Was “broken windows policing” in New York a perversion of Wilson and Kelling’s theory, or was it the logical conclusion of said theory?

3) What are the costs of “broken windows policing” and heavy enforcement in terms of police community relations and public trust?

Part 2)Students, last week you began to read Frank Zimring “The City that Became Safe”.  This speaks about what criminologists call “The Great American Crime Decline” where crime decreased dramatically from a peak in the late 1980’s early 1990’s to a much lower level that we see today.  Please read this brief web article about the National Decline  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/what-caused-the-crime-decline/477408/ .  Then compare these explanations with Zimring’s arguments for New York City’s crime decline, the greatest and most rapid crime decline of any major city.  Answer the following questions:

1) What are some of the reasons cited for the “Great American Crime Decline”?

2) What factors does Zimring cite for the crime decline in New York City?  Specifically, which policing tactics does he believe worked and which criminal justice policies do not work?  

3) Based off of both Zimring and the Great American crime article- which factors do you believe are most important and why?  

4) Based on the factors that you chose as most important, could these things change in the future and bring back another crime wave?  

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