NCJ Number
199587
Journal
Justice Policy Journal: Analyzing Criminal and Juvenile Justice Issues and Policies Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 60-71
Editor(s)
Daniel Macallair
Date Published
August 2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article examines the drop in the New York City crime rate and the explanations related to improved law enforcement strategies and tactics and the criminal justice system’s get tough policy with serious offenders.
Abstract
During the close of the 20th century, a significant drop in interpersonal violence and stealing was a national phenomenon. This drop in the crime rate was most pronounced in the biggest cities. New York City experienced one of the sharpest declines in murders, down 72 percent from 2,245 in 1990 to a 34-year low of 633 in 1998. The widely circulated and accepted explanations for this significant decline in the murder rate were improved law enforcement strategies and tactics and the criminal justice system getting tougher with serious offenders. These explanations are the focus of this paper’s analysis which questions whether better policing cut crime substantially in New York or did a greater reliance on imprisonment cut crime substantially in New York. It is being circulated that smarter policing and tougher criminal justice policies were indeed the sole reasons for the precipitous retreat of the criminal element from New York’s streets. However, social scientists have expressed reasonable doubts. There is reason to believe that other positive developments during the 1990's might have helped pull down New York City’s high crime rates, such as demographic shifts and the changing values of youth. It is recommended that a “blue ribbon commission” with authority to collect hard-to-obtain agency data be convened in order to solve the mystery. References