Policing: The 'broken Windows' Theory

[PoliticalChic]

1. "Stop and Frisk" was an eminently successful program, and served the purpose of getting guns, and thugs off the street, reducing crime, and making the black and Hispanic communities safer.

A argument against it can, and was, made by folks who said, even though it worked, it was unfair to the majority minority individuals subject to said search.



2. It has been found constitutional to stop and question an individual:
" So long as a reasonable person would feel free "to disregard the police and go about his business," California v. Hodari D., 499 U. S. —, — (1991) (slip op., at 6), the encounter is consensual and no reasonable suspicion is required. The encounter will not trigger Fourth Amendment scrutiny unless it loses its consensual nature. The Court made precisely this point in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19, n. 16 (1968): "Obviously, not all personal intercourse between policemen and citizens involves `seizures' of persons. Only when the officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a citizen may we conclude that a `seizure' has occurred."

In Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491 (1983) (plurality opinion), for example, we explained that "law enforcement officers do not violate the Fourth Amendent by merely approaching an individual on the street or in another public place, by asking him if he is willing to answer some questions, by putting questions to him if the person is willing to listen, or by offering in evidence in a criminal prosecution his voluntary answers to such questions." Id., at 497; see id., at 523, n. 3 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting)." Florida v. Bostick 501 U.S. 429 1991




While very few are in favor of a police state,' most reasonable folks assign a degree of latitude to the experience and rectitude of police officers.

As a matter of fact, where one stands on 'Stop and Frisk' seems related to where one resides on the Liberal-conservative spectrum.




3. Based on the rights of an individual, the 'Broken Window' theory of policing seems more impregnable than 'Stop and Frisk,' as it is based on enforcing laws and targeting criminals.

a. "The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm-setting and signalling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior. The theory states that maintaining and monitoring urban environments in a well-ordered condition may stop further vandalism and escalation into more serious crime... an ordered and clean environment – one which is maintained – sends the signal that the area is monitored and that criminal behavior will not be tolerated.."
Broken windows theory - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia



4. Here in NYC, the election of a far Left Mayor, and even further Left adviser, and the inadvertent death of Eric Garner have put the spotlight on "Broken Windows" theory.....
" Just months after the choking death of Eric Garner at the hands of New York City police officers, the NYPD’s commissioner has called for a “fundamental shift in the culture of the department.” NYPD calls for fundamental shift after Garner s chokehold death MSNBC

 

[Mad Scientist]

2. It has been found constitutional to stop and question an individual:
" So long as a reasonable person would feel free "to disregard the police and go about his business," California v. Hodari D., 499 U. S. —, — (1991) (slip op., at 6), the encounter is consensual and no reasonable suspicion is required.

There are really only two things anyone needs to say to a Police Officer when stopped in that situation:

1. Am I being Detained?
2. Am I Free to Go?

Do you know when you're Legally Obligated to identify yourself? Only when you're placed under Arrest. Until then, use your 5th Amendment Rights. And then after that, continue to use you're 5th Amendment Rights.

When a Police Officer places you under Arrest you should:

1. Shut up.
2. Shut up some more.
3. Keep shutting up.
4. If Arrested, only talk to your Legal Council.

I'm against Stop and Frisk so do you think I'm a Liberal?

 

[PoliticalChic]

2. It has been found constitutional to stop and question an individual:
" So long as a reasonable person would feel free "to disregard the police and go about his business," California v. Hodari D., 499 U. S. —, — (1991) (slip op., at 6), the encounter is consensual and no reasonable suspicion is required.

There are really only two things anyone needs to say to a Police Officer when stopped in that situation:

1. Am I being Detained?
2. Am I Free to Go?

Do you know when you're Legally Obligated to identify yourself? Only when you're placed under Arrest. Until then, use your 5th Amendment Rights. And then after that, continue to use you're 5th Amendment Rights.

When a Police Officer places you under Arrest you should:

1. Shut up.
2. Shut up some more.
3. Keep shutting up.
4. If Arrested, only talk to your Legal Council.

I'm against Stop and Frisk so do you think I'm a Liberal?

If you are absolutely opposed under any circumstances, then I believe you are short sighted.

 

[Skull Pilot]

2. It has been found constitutional to stop and question an individual:
" So long as a reasonable person would feel free "to disregard the police and go about his business," California v. Hodari D., 499 U. S. —, — (1991) (slip op., at 6), the encounter is consensual and no reasonable suspicion is required.

There are really only two things anyone needs to say to a Police Officer when stopped in that situation:

1. Am I being Detained?
2. Am I Free to Go?

Do you know when you're Legally Obligated to identify yourself? Only when you're placed under Arrest. Until then, use your 5th Amendment Rights. And then after that, continue to use you're 5th Amendment Rights.

When a Police Officer places you under Arrest you should:

1. Shut up.
2. Shut up some more.
3. Keep shutting up.
4. If Arrested, only talk to your Legal Council.

I'm against Stop and Frisk so do you think I'm a Liberal?

If you are absolutely opposed under any circumstances, then I believe you are short sighted.

The only time I am not opposed to stop and frisk is when there is sufficient probable cause.

 

[Mad Scientist]

If you are absolutely opposed under any circumstances, then I believe you are short sighted.

I wrote in my post "under THOSE circumstances".

If a Cop has Reasonable Suspicion then yeah, he can Stop and Frisk but you know what?

You STILL don't have to talk to them.

You STILL have a 5th Amendment Right.

Worshiping Cops is no different than Worshiping Obama.

 

[Mad Scientist]

The only time I am not opposed to stop and frisk is when there is sufficient probable cause.

Probable Cause means the Cop has at least Detained a Suspect and in that case Stop and Frisk goes out the window.

In that case the Cop will do a search incident to Arrest.

But you know what? 5th Amendment still applies.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Broken Windows policing policy is a crackdown on minor offenses, with the view that the same individuals responsible for those offenses are responsible for more serious crimes. The theory has proven to be true and effective.




5. "There was the death of Eric Garner while he was being arrested, which resulted from aggressive policing after it was alleged that Garner was selling loose cigarettes on the street. This is illegal, but a minor offense. This case, which resulted in criticism of the NYPD over a few weeks and a peaceful protest march in Staten Island, is worth examining as an example of the potential downside of Broken Windows.

6. Broken Windows emerged in the early ’90s, advanced by Harvard professor George Kelling that if low-level crime flourished in cities, it would indicate that law enforcement and the government were lax and this would lead to more serious crime. Busting subway graffiti artists, fare beaters, squeegee men, lawless panhandlers and others would send a message that the city no longer tolerates minor crimes and allow the police to put through the system petty criminals who may have outstanding warrants, thus getting them off the streets.

a. Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his first NYPD commissioner, Bill Bratton, were the first practitioners of this way of policing and since then we have seen a record drop in crime but also the incarceration of a high percentage of young minority men.

b. New York has become the safest large city in America,..." Mayor Bratton will have to rule on Broken Windows 8226 TimesLedger





In the above, Allon refers to the Eric Garner death as "This is illegal, but a minor offense."

But....the minor offense became major by resistance to the police commands.

 

[PoliticalChic]

And...from the Left:

7. " Commissioner Bill Bratton, the head of the nation’s largest police force, testified during a city council hearing Monday that the NYPD is looking for ways to bolster training in the use of force for patrol officers and that the department is committed to addressing concerns that officers disproportionately stop and use force against black and Latino residents.

“We are committed to constitutional and respectful policing,” Bratton said during the hearing.




Garner’s chokehold killing by an NYPD officer in mid-July after he was stopped for selling “loosies,”— single, untaxed cigarettes—sparked anger and greater scrutiny of the department’s bolstered broken windows policing strategy, in which officers aggressively attack minor offenses with the aim of suppressing other crimes.

The strategy, a hold-over from the uber-violent New York City of decades past, was invigorated by Commissioner Bill Bratton, who in the 1990s served as commissioner under Mayor Rudy Giulliani and was an original architect of broken windows."



“If you don’t address the race and class issues, which are at the core of the issues between the police and the community, and if you don’t focus on the history there you’re not addressing the fundamental problems,” said Jumaane Williams, a New York City councilman who represents Brooklyn and sits on the council’s public safety committee.

The tactic disproportionately targeted young black and Latino men for random stops and searches. "
NYPD calls for fundamental shift after Garner s chokehold death MSNBC




MSNBC: "Garner’s chokehold killing by an NYPD officer in mid-July after he was stopped for selling “loosies,”— single, untaxed cigarettes..."

MSNBC glosses over the resistance to complying with the police.

The death was not a result of the minor offense, therefore not related to 'Broken Windows.'



The facts become an issue when one inspects the conflating of all aspect of the situation. Especially this question: is the matter one of race or one of crime?

 

[PoliticalChic]

The players in the 'Broken Window' controversy are de Blasio, Bratton......and Sharpton



8. " .... now, more than two decades after he first became commissioner, Bratton is back in that role, wiser and more experienced after a successful stint as head of the Los Angeles police department.

But now Bratton has a tricky job: maintain New York’s record-low crime rate, keep the use of stop-and-frisk down and defend Broken Windows in an environment where some question whether we still need it.

a. .... the Rev. Al Sharpton, has resurfaced again as an activist and advocate against any cases of perceived police brutality. During Bratton’s first tenure, Sharpton was shut out of City Hall. Today, he sits on panels with the mayor and leads protest marches." Mayor Bratton will have to rule on Broken Windows 8226 TimesLedger




9. Bratton has an uphill battle as the real power behind Mayor de Blasio is Al Sharpton.

" NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton made the fiery comment on Wednesday, as he tried to deflect criticism directed at him and Mayor de Blasio for having the Rev. Al Sharpton participate in a roundtable discussion at City Hall last month in the wake of Eric Garner’s chokehold death.


“I’ll shake hands with the devil if necessary to keep this city calm, safe, and secure,” Bratton said at a Crain’s New York Business breakfast in Manhattan. “I will meet with whoever is necessary to hear their perspective, their viewpoints.”

Devil is in details not Al Sharpton NYPD s Bratton says after Eric Garner roundtable comment - NY Daily News

 

[PoliticalChic]

10. And, a reminder of who King de Blasio's bishop is: the Rev.

"Crown Heights tells us everything one needs to know about Sharpton.

A 7-year-old black child was accidentally struck and killed by a car driven by a Hasidic Jew in that section of Brooklyn, N.Y. It sparked three days of riots, resulting in a hundred people injured and the stabbing death of a young Jewish scholar, who was surrounded by a mob chanting, "Kill the Jew."

Sharpton fanned the flames, leading some 400 protesters through a Jewish section of Crown Heights. He said: "The world will tell us that (the child) was killed by accident. ... What type of city do we have that would allow politics to rise above the blood of innocent babies? ... Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and deals with the diamond merchants right here in Crown Heights.

... All we want to say is what Jesus said: If you offend one of these little ones, you got to pay for it. No compromise. Pay for your deeds." Later he said, "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." Newsweek Whitewashes Al Sharpton by Larry Elder on Creators.com - A Syndicate Of Talent




BTW...about 13% o of NYC is Jewish....about half the percentage of blacks. Demographics of New York City - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Hey, Rev......'can't we all just get along?'

 

[PoliticalChic]

Stop and frisk....gone.

Broken Windows......on the ropes.



11. "Recently, a poll of New Yorkers showed that Bratton’s approval rating has gone down. He brushed it off. His job is to keep crime down, keep his force aggressive enough to continue to keep New Yorkers feeling safe and avoid any incidents like what happened to Garner ....

There was a public and critical letter by the head of the sergeant’s union, Ed Mullins, criticizing the mayor for not defending the police vigorously enough and alleging that the city is slipping backward in its fight against crime.

a. Is this criticism of the mayor a line in the sand to make sure there are no more protests against the police and to warn the new administration that it should be as forcefully behind the “thin blue line” as the past two administrations? Will Bratton allow for this kind of dissension in his ranks or will he try to crack down to keep his department unified?




12. Now that stop-and-frisk has been neutered as a public issue, it seems the next line of attack will be against Broken Windows. How strong Bratton and de Blasio will defend it in the coming months could determine whether Bratton will remain head of the NYPD for at least the next three years and whether New York will continue to keep crime stats down and quality-of-life issues out of the news.

The mayor and his police commissioner and force are at a crossroads. How they react to these crosscurrents will shape our city’s future." Mayor Bratton will have to rule on Broken Windows 8226 TimesLedger



So, in comes a Liberal administration.....and we watch the breakdown of attempts to lower the crime rate, and protect the innocent.

 

[PoliticalChic]

So, Liberal administrations take power, away goes 'Stop and Frisk,' and now there is an attempt to stop another successful crime-fighting tool.



13. Ann Coulter wrote this:

" The legal community, largely if not entirely, Liberal/Progressive, played a major role in wreaking havoc in the black community. Starting in the sixties, ordinary people, black and white, watched in stupefaction as liberal social reformers came in and jettisoned thousands of years of human knowledge to rewrite criminal laws and government welfare policies. Liberals living in monochromatically white suburbs or doorman buildings in the city said “Let’s try these new ideas that sound really cool, like school busing and deemphasizing prison!”




14. And Thomas Sowell, in “The Vision of the Anointed,” explained that the old view was to put criminals in prison; the new view, held by, for example, Lyndon Johnson’s attorney-general Ramsey Clark, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, DC circuit judge David Bazelon, was to avoid sending criminals to prison and instead spend all our resources focusing on the “root causes” of crime.

a. In the words of Judge Bazelon, “poverty is the root cause of crime.” Thomas Sowell, “The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy,” p. 158.




15. The basic idea that liberal judges and politicians were pushing was that society should be nice to criminals, so they would re-pay us with law-abiding behavior.
Ramsey Clark: " The theory of rehabilitation is based on the belief that healthy, rational people will not injure others, that they will understand that the individual and his society are best served by conduct that does not inflict injury, that a just society has the ability to provide health and purpose and opportunity for all its citizens. Rehabilitated, an individual will not have the capacity - cannot bring himself - to injure another or take or destroy property. "

Of course, if that were true, he wouldn’t have committed crimes in the first place.



a. Despite being insane, the reformers won out. The test of public policy vs. human nature began!

b. Need empirical evidence? Crime rates skyrocketed. By 1974, the murder rate was over twice that of 1961. Between 1960 and 1976, a citizen’s chances of becoming a victim of a major violent crime tripled.
Sowell, Op.Cit., p.27.




So, defending criminals and criminal behavior has become the raison d'être for the Left?

And, in the face of this, many normal, seemingly rational folks, voted Democrat....proving the old saying

"Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad"

 

[PoliticalChic]

16. There is no way to deny that Liberals/Progressives/the Left are the reason the system leans toward the criminal and away considering the dangers to the innocent.

And no way to deny the link between Liberals/Progressives/the Left, and the assaults on both "Stop and Frisk," and "the Broken Windows theory" of policing.




Take a look at the results of this agenda:

Carter-appointed judge Norma Shapiro “ is one of the worst offenders among that influential cadre of federal judges who have substituted the ACLU's prisoners' rights wish list for the Bill of Rights and have trifled with public safety concerns.

…single-handedly decriminalized property and drug crimes in the City of Brotherly Love….And in the past 18 months alone, 9,732 arrestees, out on the streets on pre-trial release because of her prison cap, were arrested on second charges, including 79 murders, 90 rapes, 701 burglaries, 959 robberies, 1,113 assaults, 2,215 drug offenses and 2,748 thefts….

Activist judges such as Shapiro and [Judge] Justice assert that prison crowding violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishments. But there is no empirical evidence to substantiate this assertion. In every study of the subject, the widely believed negative effects of crowding - violence, program disruption, health problems and so on - are nowhere in evidence.”
Activist Judges Earn Dunce Caps For Their Prison Caps - Philly.com


a. In 1992, black youths were nine times more likely to be murdered than white youths. Liberals lied, black kids died.

 

[PoliticalChic]

On the topic of coddling criminals, the top spot in the "Hall of Shame" has to go to Democrat Presidential Candidate Michael Dukakis



Once upon a time, Republicans pointed this out......

17. To this day, academics, i.e., Liberals, use it as an example of how race is used in an ugly way in American politics.




a. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the same one that OK’d gay marriage, ruled that prison furloughs had to be extended to first-degree murderers. This, due to Governor Michael Dukakis eliminating the death penalty.

b. Furloughs: outside visits to prepare convicts who would be released back into the community. Certainly not those with a life sentence.

c. Wait….don’t Liberals say that life in prison without the possibility of parole is just as good as capital punishment? Anyway….

d. Even the Massachusetts legislature realized the ruling was insane…and passed a law prohibiting the furloughs. But, with the support of the usual suspects, the ACLU, the Democrat Governor Dukakis vetoed the bill. Off goes a savage murderer, Willie Horton.

e. Horton was in prison because he “robbed Joseph Fournier, a 17-year-old gas station attendant, and then fatally stabbed him 19 times after he had cooperated by handing over all of the money in the cash register. His body was dumped in a trash can. Fournier died from blood loss…. But Willie Horton did not care if you gave it to him or not. As he would demonstrate at least twice, giving him what he asked for would not make any difference. … He did it for pleasure… Michael Dukakis opened up the prison doors in Massachusetts…[Horton] went to Maryland and broke into a home and tied a man to a joist in the basement, slashed his chest and stomach with a knife, then beat and raped his fiancée while she screamed and screamed and screamed. Willie Horton was a killer, a rapist, a torturer, a kidnapper, a brute.”
Write better papers faster Online Research Library Questia

5. Having no defense to blunt the truth of events, what could Liberals so?….Of course! Democrats screamed ‘racism.’