NCJ Number
83493
Date Published
1980
Length
215 pages
Annotation
Social, economic, law enforcement, and political factors affecting the crime problem, the fear of crime, and response to crime in Newark, N.J., from 1948 through 1978 are identified and discussed.
Abstract
Following a brief outline of crime trends and government responses to them in Newark, the opening chapter examines three fundamental misconceptions about crime which have rendered most public debate irrelevant to the real problems and conducive to an increase in the fear of crime. Also discussed are four different modes by which governmental agencies have developed policies for dealing with crime. The contemporary economic and social makeup of the city is then discussed, and the rise in homicide, the one crime which is accurately reported, is considered, followed by a discussion of current sociological understandings of crime patterns in black ghettos. Two chapters are devoted to the historical background of the city and its police department. The study divides the 30-year span into four periods corresponding to the sharp changes in city government as incumbents were turned out. For each period, changes in crime patterns, the relation of crime to other issues, and the governmental responses to crime are examined. The study argues that long-term trends have produced breeding grounds for street crime in Newark, while starving the city of the resources needed to meet mounting social and economic problems. The continuing arrest and incarceration of a much higher proportion of black and Hispanic persons than of whites raises questions about the quality of justice. The emergence of crime as a political issue has not brought the city any closer to dealing with the problem. Public focus on the issue has only contributed to racial polarization and further economic decline. Graphic data are provided. (Author summary modified)