Over twenty years ago, New York City adopted a tactic that came to be known as "broken window policing". What that meant is that the police started enforcing laws regarding small infractions that had previously been ignored. If you jumped the turnstiles on the subway (for a theft of about a dollar), the police had previously looked the other way. Under the new doctrine, you got stopped and arrested. If you urinated on the street or played your boom box too loud (it really was long ago), you got stopped and arrested. The policy had two very good effects: first, within almost no time, the word got out that the police were arresting folks for these violations and the perpetrators stopped doing them; the quality of life in the city was improved greatly. Second and more important, the police discovered that the people who they arrested in this way were frequently wanted for other, more serious crimes. Literally thousands of dangerous criminals were caught when they jumped the turnstiles or committed other quality of life crimes. It made the whole city much safer.
I mention all this, because under Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York is once again going to stop enforcing these small acts. In fact, I learned today that the City Council is planning on decriminalizing most of them. You see, the liberals of New York never liked the idea of police enforcing quality of life laws. It was discriminatory supposedly, although the only ones who were affected were those who were committing crimes. It targeted the poor supposedly, although there is no reason to assume that the criminals jumping turnstiles were poor. Nevertheless, it conflicted with the basic liberal ideology that the police are bad and anything that can limit the police is good.
There's a report in the New York Post documenting the big upsurge in problems on the streets in the city. It's much like the 1980s. I assume that soon, the squeegee men will return; those are the guys who would rush up to cars stopped at a light and spray soapy water on the windshield and then offer to "clean" it for a fee. There was not really a choice. They cleaned the windshield or you could not see out. Worse, these guy tended to approach the cars that were being driven by women who would feel threatened by the big guys outside the car asking for money.
It is amazing that the Mayor and the City Council actually want to bring back the days when there was more crime on the streets of the city. It is hard to believe that they actually hated the Giuliani and Bloomberg policies so much that they prefer widespread crime (albeit minor) to the days of civil order.
Hopefully, the next election will send these fools packing. Still, that's a long time to wait, and the damage to New York City could be great in the interim.
I mention all this, because under Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York is once again going to stop enforcing these small acts. In fact, I learned today that the City Council is planning on decriminalizing most of them. You see, the liberals of New York never liked the idea of police enforcing quality of life laws. It was discriminatory supposedly, although the only ones who were affected were those who were committing crimes. It targeted the poor supposedly, although there is no reason to assume that the criminals jumping turnstiles were poor. Nevertheless, it conflicted with the basic liberal ideology that the police are bad and anything that can limit the police is good.
There's a report in the New York Post documenting the big upsurge in problems on the streets in the city. It's much like the 1980s. I assume that soon, the squeegee men will return; those are the guys who would rush up to cars stopped at a light and spray soapy water on the windshield and then offer to "clean" it for a fee. There was not really a choice. They cleaned the windshield or you could not see out. Worse, these guy tended to approach the cars that were being driven by women who would feel threatened by the big guys outside the car asking for money.
It is amazing that the Mayor and the City Council actually want to bring back the days when there was more crime on the streets of the city. It is hard to believe that they actually hated the Giuliani and Bloomberg policies so much that they prefer widespread crime (albeit minor) to the days of civil order.
Hopefully, the next election will send these fools packing. Still, that's a long time to wait, and the damage to New York City could be great in the interim.
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