What Lessons Can We Learn From New York’S Amazing Reduction In Crime Levels?

[sp1814]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/nyregion/new-york-city-crime-2017.html

Pretty impressive!

[Gromit]

Jno,
Not read the book, but I am sceptical of the abortion theory. I have looked and cannot find any evidence that the population of poor or criminal groups is decreasing or slowing down. The overall NY pipulation is ever increasing.

// The estimated population for New York City in 2016 is 8,550,405. This reflects growth of 375,300 people, a 4.6% increase, since the 2010 census recorded 8.175 million residents. //

[sp1814]

jno

Spooky - I was going to refer to that very section in that very excellent book, but I didn't because the dates don't match this latest spell of crime figures.

Also, there would have to be a monumental number of abortions to see such a rapid fall in such a short space of time.

But I get your point.

[sp1814]

Gromit and I cross-posted there.

[Gromit]

This aricle in ‘The Atlantic’ credits more police on the streets along with the introduction of new technology, namely ‘CompStat’ a database driven of targetting criminals.

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/02/more-police-managed-more-effectively-really-can-reduce-crime/385390/

[Peter Pedant]

what can we learn from the fantastic unbelievable reduction ?

not an awful lot
what is it - five hundred deaths in 8 million
and England has five hundred in 60 million

and how many thousand gunshot deaths and injuries ? a few tens of thousands - in England - it is around a hundred innit ? no not a hundred thousand

[jno]

sp1814 and Gromit, the book's a few years old now so not necessarily immediately relevant, but like the opening sentence in the linked NY Times article it does date the turnaround in crime back to the early 1990s.

Being an economics book it's full of facts and figures and analyses that I won't try to transcribe. And it does acssess other elements frequently put forward as explanations, including changes in polilcing, ageing population, economc good times and so forth.

As far as Britain goes, I can't see how reducing the number of police is ever going to lead to anything but more crime. But it does look as though the British experience can't directly reflect that of NYC.

[jourdain2]

All I can add is that I and my daughter visited New York a good few years ago (after the Mayor's purge on crime started) and we wandered the streets around Times Square etc., etc., feeling perfectly safe - even at night. There were pairs of armed police stationed at regular intervals all over the place. It worked.

Police on the beat also work, they don't have to be armed.