New York City is America's safest big city. It ranks 221 out of 240 cities across the nation on the total crime index. Last year was the third straight year with fewer than 600 homicides and the fewest homicides since 1963. Crime is down nationally but the continuous progress that New York City has made in reducing violent and property crimes is nothing short of miraculous.
Several forces deserve credit for making New York City a model among American cities: an expanding economy, vigorous police work, and aggressive prosecution of criminals. One man, though, is constantly hailed as New York's crime-fighting messiah: Rudolph Giuliani. His administration and that of his successor Mayor Michael Bloomberg deserve the majority of the credit for the safety that New Yorkers enjoy today.
Rudy Giuliani pursued what is known as "broken-windows policing." This is the notion that strictly enforcing laws against smaller crimes discourages more serious crimes by sending a signal that the community is in charge. Giuliani identified the problems New York City faced: "It's the street tax paid to drunk and drug-ridden panhandlers. It's the squeegee men shaking down the motorist waiting at a light. It's the trash storms, the swirling mass of garbage left by peddlers and panhandlers, and open-air drug bazaars on unclean streets."
The mayor directed the New York Police Department (NYPD) to focus on restoring order, solving local problems, and holding local commanders accountable for dealing with those problems. He increased the size of the NYPD to almost 40,000 men and women and made sure they were seen prominently throughout the city.
The NYPD adopted a revolutionary policy designed to prevent crime rather than react to crime. During the 1970s and 1980s, liberal politicians claimed that crime was the result of "root causes" like social injustice, racism, and poverty. The only way to avert crime, in their view, was to change society itself. Whatever merits these arguments may have (and I'm not arguing they are entirely wrong), liberal mayors used the "root cause" theory as an excuse to cut police forces. Police pursued a "hands off" policy that overlooked minor infractions. The result of these two forces was the crime wave of the 1970s and 1980s.
2008 Woodie Awards
