Stop and frisk is abandoned - police are demonized for doing their jobs - crime rates increase. Blow have you ever heard of Occam's razor? To explain the increase as something other than the abandonment of stop and frisk and the demonization of police requires too many assumptions.
40
I do not know how old Mr. Blow is, but I take it that he really has not lived though earlier times when things such as broken windows policing and stop and frisk restored a bit of order to a city out of control. And no, we are not romanticizing these things. We are lauding their practicality.
Buy if you think that the 60s and 70s were great times in New York history, then you will be a supporter of Mr. Blow, Mr. DeBlasio, and Mr. Sharpton (strangely quiet in recent weeks). And while we remain nostalgic, let us also bring back grfitti covered subways and buildings to give comfort to those who enjoy continually looking over their shoulders for the next threat.
And for those of you who do not know, the horn sound that heralds the approach of a subway train was instituted so that people might not risk taking their lives in hand while waiting for the next train to come.
Buy if you think that the 60s and 70s were great times in New York history, then you will be a supporter of Mr. Blow, Mr. DeBlasio, and Mr. Sharpton (strangely quiet in recent weeks). And while we remain nostalgic, let us also bring back grfitti covered subways and buildings to give comfort to those who enjoy continually looking over their shoulders for the next threat.
And for those of you who do not know, the horn sound that heralds the approach of a subway train was instituted so that people might not risk taking their lives in hand while waiting for the next train to come.
32
So, the race-baiting opposition to holding petty criminals accountable continues. When you stop enforcing the petty offenses, all you're doing is enabling the criminals to take their lawbreaking a step further. Just remember that the next time some convict shoplifts from a bodega one day, only to return months later and commit a violent robbery. Or, does Blow think that letting the small stuff slide will actually reduce felony crimes?
34
Mr. Blow needs to use his common sense to overcome his nearly rabid views on race.
When there are 40 murders in Baltimore in May alone, the problem is not police abuse but rather rampant criminal activity.
When the justice system and the police are undermined, criminals are emboldened and crime rises.
When there are 40 murders in Baltimore in May alone, the problem is not police abuse but rather rampant criminal activity.
When the justice system and the police are undermined, criminals are emboldened and crime rises.
51
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, why would you assume it is not duck? The outrage of Charles Blow is because he doesn't like the facts not because they are not true. Murders are up. There were more murders in Baltimore than in Chicago a far larger town and one that is often written about as a murder capital. This is not about condoning bad police behavior. But bad police behavior resulted not in a "precise" response as suggested by Blow but a broad condemnation of policing in this country. There was no balance to the story. The presumption was that the deaths of black males was derivative of racism and not of concentrated crime in black neighborhoods.
People do not like the facts but they are clear. There are dramatically more crimes in poor black neighborhoods than in poor white neighborhoods. In the poor area of Chinatown in NYC, violent crime is 30% below that of the rest of the city. Poor is part of the problem but it is simply wrong to ascribe poor as the underlying cause of crime.
As many pundits have pointed out, there needs to be better alternatives and yes, black lives matter. But black lives will be lost if you broadly disable the police.
People do not like the facts but they are clear. There are dramatically more crimes in poor black neighborhoods than in poor white neighborhoods. In the poor area of Chinatown in NYC, violent crime is 30% below that of the rest of the city. Poor is part of the problem but it is simply wrong to ascribe poor as the underlying cause of crime.
As many pundits have pointed out, there needs to be better alternatives and yes, black lives matter. But black lives will be lost if you broadly disable the police.
45
There isn't anything particularly "romantic" about the pro broken windows policing. If anything the rhetoric has been realistic and by some within the broken windows camp like George Kelling, fairly critical.
New York City's approach has been to reduce poverty, provide education and to remove guns. At various points in the process the NYPD has gone overboard However New York City, blessed with both resources and a will to apply those resources has had tremendous success in removing guns and saving lives.
Now, as a result of judicial and political action, there has been a pull back on some of these efforts. Shooting and violence has been on the uptick. Are the two related? Only time will tell, however if they are related, as we adjust and find our way through this, lives will have been lost unnecessarily.
Benjimin Franklin famously wrote "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" but Franklin never had to walk to or from school in Brownsville, Brooklyn in 1992.
New York City's approach has been to reduce poverty, provide education and to remove guns. At various points in the process the NYPD has gone overboard However New York City, blessed with both resources and a will to apply those resources has had tremendous success in removing guns and saving lives.
Now, as a result of judicial and political action, there has been a pull back on some of these efforts. Shooting and violence has been on the uptick. Are the two related? Only time will tell, however if they are related, as we adjust and find our way through this, lives will have been lost unnecessarily.
Benjimin Franklin famously wrote "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" but Franklin never had to walk to or from school in Brownsville, Brooklyn in 1992.
19
Boy, man. Talk about a reality-free zone.
18
There is little evidence that stop and frisk has accomplished all that former Mayor Bloomberg and others claims it has. "The drop in murders in New York City, for example, from 2002 until now has been about 12 percent, from 587 annually to 536. During the same period, the number of murders declined by 43 percent in Washington and by 50 percent in Los Angeles, two cities that have less aggressive stop and frisk tactics."
----Robert Gangi , New York Times
Most public officials come across as callously narrow-minded when confronted with evidence of the toxic effect the policies of "Broken Windows"
and Stop and Frisk has had on community relations. They view the stops as basically harmless inconveniences that make everybody safer. Policies like stop and frisk breeds discontent and suspicion of law enforcement officials and exacerbates racial tensions. Many police practices may be useful for fighting crime but if unconstitutional it cannot be used, no matter how effective.
----Robert Gangi , New York Times
Most public officials come across as callously narrow-minded when confronted with evidence of the toxic effect the policies of "Broken Windows"
and Stop and Frisk has had on community relations. They view the stops as basically harmless inconveniences that make everybody safer. Policies like stop and frisk breeds discontent and suspicion of law enforcement officials and exacerbates racial tensions. Many police practices may be useful for fighting crime but if unconstitutional it cannot be used, no matter how effective.
3
"Actually, “most plausible” is simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything. "
True, but neither your article offer any data or argument contradicting the assertion that the "broken windows policy" (despite its potential for abuse) has been effective at reducing crime.
Many will argue that what transformed NYC from a crime infested city to one of the safest big cities in the world was in good part the "broken windows" policy. Until you have a good argument to refute this claim you are just preaching to the choir.
True, but neither your article offer any data or argument contradicting the assertion that the "broken windows policy" (despite its potential for abuse) has been effective at reducing crime.
Many will argue that what transformed NYC from a crime infested city to one of the safest big cities in the world was in good part the "broken windows" policy. Until you have a good argument to refute this claim you are just preaching to the choir.
13
"People have an intrinsic intelligence about such things. Outrage isn’t constant or random. It is conditional and precise."--Charles Blow, paragraph 12.
2500 years of rational thought has just been inverted. All in a day's work...
2500 years of rational thought has just been inverted. All in a day's work...
16
I understand the importance of this essay, but I winced when reading it because there are usually 3 schools of thought in juxtaposition – the cop’s viewpoint; the victim/criminal/innocent person’s viewpoint; & the truth somewhere in between. This kind of article tends to polarize rather than repair a reader’s view.
The media plays a key role in sensationalizing certain stories. They’re like a dog with a bone – they can’t let go of a story. No disrespect intended to the NYT or any other news source, but often times the media will keep a story front and center for days, even though there's nothing new to report which only tends to exacerbate the situation.
The neighborhood I live in (30+ yrs) is a mixture of many ethnic groups (African-American, Causation, Hispanic). People think I’m nuts for living there because the perception is “gang bangers & corner boys” are rampant. While that may be true on occasion, the 2 biggest obstacles facing my neighborhood are young couples moving out once they have children because they want their kids to attend a better school with a more desirable zip code or folks fear getting shot from rival gangs' bullets. The knuckleheads causing these problems don’t even live in the neighborhood (they are from the south or west side of town). Neighbors will hail a passing police car to give a heads up or chat about what’s going on in the “hood”. My community believes in working with rather than against the police. Trust & respect works both ways.
The media plays a key role in sensationalizing certain stories. They’re like a dog with a bone – they can’t let go of a story. No disrespect intended to the NYT or any other news source, but often times the media will keep a story front and center for days, even though there's nothing new to report which only tends to exacerbate the situation.
The neighborhood I live in (30+ yrs) is a mixture of many ethnic groups (African-American, Causation, Hispanic). People think I’m nuts for living there because the perception is “gang bangers & corner boys” are rampant. While that may be true on occasion, the 2 biggest obstacles facing my neighborhood are young couples moving out once they have children because they want their kids to attend a better school with a more desirable zip code or folks fear getting shot from rival gangs' bullets. The knuckleheads causing these problems don’t even live in the neighborhood (they are from the south or west side of town). Neighbors will hail a passing police car to give a heads up or chat about what’s going on in the “hood”. My community believes in working with rather than against the police. Trust & respect works both ways.
17
The biggest problem with this column is that no definition is given for "broken windows" policing. In fact, there is a HUGE difference between the "broken windows" theory as it was created by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in their 1982 article in The Atlantic Monthly, and "broken windows" policing as we know it today - as it has been "bastardized" and implemented by the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies.
The clearest example is that the original theory does NOT call for - or even support - the stop-question-frisk concept, PARTICULARLY as it was practiced by the NYPD.
While it is almost certainly true that "broken windows" policing - even done "right" - is not the SOLE reason for the drop in crime throughout the country in cities that implement it, it has, without question, been a critical component in that drop. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the facts, and throw out the baby with the bathwater.
The clearest example is that the original theory does NOT call for - or even support - the stop-question-frisk concept, PARTICULARLY as it was practiced by the NYPD.
While it is almost certainly true that "broken windows" policing - even done "right" - is not the SOLE reason for the drop in crime throughout the country in cities that implement it, it has, without question, been a critical component in that drop. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the facts, and throw out the baby with the bathwater.
8
"Watch carefully the rhetorical sleight of hand here. “Urban reclamation.” From whom for whom?"
With all due respect to Mr. Blow, if there is some underlying rhetorical assumption in MacDonald's summary, it is negated in no way by his counter-argument, which is filled with an equal amount of unsubstantiated (in the op-ed at least) rhetoric. The phrase he points out as problematic, "urban reclamation" remains undefined by MacDonald (at least as brought in by Mr. Blow) and so nothing but pure unsubstantiated rhetoric can be made against it.
I am not saying that Mr. Blow is not right (I fundamentally agree- we need data to figure out what's going on. Honesty about this, however, forces one to concede that the data may very well show the kind of correlation that he thinks doesn't exist). I am saying that his op-ed does nothing to substantively counter the voices of the "romanticizers" of the broken-windows theory (that, by the way, was a nice rhetorical slight of hand on his part).
With all due respect to Mr. Blow, if there is some underlying rhetorical assumption in MacDonald's summary, it is negated in no way by his counter-argument, which is filled with an equal amount of unsubstantiated (in the op-ed at least) rhetoric. The phrase he points out as problematic, "urban reclamation" remains undefined by MacDonald (at least as brought in by Mr. Blow) and so nothing but pure unsubstantiated rhetoric can be made against it.
I am not saying that Mr. Blow is not right (I fundamentally agree- we need data to figure out what's going on. Honesty about this, however, forces one to concede that the data may very well show the kind of correlation that he thinks doesn't exist). I am saying that his op-ed does nothing to substantively counter the voices of the "romanticizers" of the broken-windows theory (that, by the way, was a nice rhetorical slight of hand on his part).
6
Obviously, stop and frisk saves lives. The question to ask minority communities is, is it worth it to you?
Sometimes in philosophy, we take something to the extreme to see the truth: let's try it here. Say police frisk every person as they walk onto the street and record their name. I think that would end all gun crime. Would it be worth it? Would it be worth it to the residents of a minority high-crime neighborhood?
When people board an airplane, everyone is 'frisked'. Some people feel it isn't worth it. I think it is. People differ in their opinions. Sometimes those airport 'enforcers' are nasty and scary. I still think it is worth it.
If people in a minority neighborhood don't want stop and frisk, they don't want it. End of story. I think they will have more gun deaths. But whether I am right or wrong in that is a non issue. They don't want it. They accept the consequences. So, don't so it.
I live in a low crime
Sometimes in philosophy, we take something to the extreme to see the truth: let's try it here. Say police frisk every person as they walk onto the street and record their name. I think that would end all gun crime. Would it be worth it? Would it be worth it to the residents of a minority high-crime neighborhood?
When people board an airplane, everyone is 'frisked'. Some people feel it isn't worth it. I think it is. People differ in their opinions. Sometimes those airport 'enforcers' are nasty and scary. I still think it is worth it.
If people in a minority neighborhood don't want stop and frisk, they don't want it. End of story. I think they will have more gun deaths. But whether I am right or wrong in that is a non issue. They don't want it. They accept the consequences. So, don't so it.
I live in a low crime
29
Surprisingly, 'broken window' policing is acceptable most blacks and is unacceptable only to those who are up to no good.
We need to begin to realize that black on black violence destroys black neighborhoods beyond repair and beyond hope. Businesses do not want to locate in those areas; nobody wants to invest in those communities.
Demagogues like Sharpton are actually doing a disservice to blacks by fanning the flames of disharmony between the community and the law-enforcement entities.
We need to begin to realize that black on black violence destroys black neighborhoods beyond repair and beyond hope. Businesses do not want to locate in those areas; nobody wants to invest in those communities.
Demagogues like Sharpton are actually doing a disservice to blacks by fanning the flames of disharmony between the community and the law-enforcement entities.
17
The only real agitation I see against police are from white conservatives who are blaming bad policing on union work rules and who want changes made to their pensions.
That would surely de-motivate me from wanting to do my job to the best of my abilities.
That would surely de-motivate me from wanting to do my job to the best of my abilities.
Mr. Blow, the police want, and demand, carte blanche for the way they conduct police work. Anything short of that, of total impunity and immunity, and they will simply let minority communities fester and die. Why should they care? It's not their neighborhoods being overrun with drug dealers and petty crime.
The fact is that the police serve the interests of people with money. They don't serve poor communities, don't and won't ever. And they won't allow those communities to dictate to them how they should do their jobs. You don't negotiate with those you deem to be your inferiors. You tell them take it or leave it. Submit to protection on our terms, or see what happens to you.
The real challenge for residents of minority communities is in finding a response to that ultimatum which leaves us in a better place than we were before. And now may be the last, best moment for that to happen. We've had a taste of peace in our time. We know that the ghetto can be repaired. In many places, we've not just survived, but thrived, come alive. Having seen this, experienced it, if we allow ourselves to fall back into a drug-and-crime induced coma after life support's been removed, then shame on us. Shame on the cops too, for not doing their jobs. But it's not their kids on the line. Shame on us.
The fact is that the police serve the interests of people with money. They don't serve poor communities, don't and won't ever. And they won't allow those communities to dictate to them how they should do their jobs. You don't negotiate with those you deem to be your inferiors. You tell them take it or leave it. Submit to protection on our terms, or see what happens to you.
The real challenge for residents of minority communities is in finding a response to that ultimatum which leaves us in a better place than we were before. And now may be the last, best moment for that to happen. We've had a taste of peace in our time. We know that the ghetto can be repaired. In many places, we've not just survived, but thrived, come alive. Having seen this, experienced it, if we allow ourselves to fall back into a drug-and-crime induced coma after life support's been removed, then shame on us. Shame on the cops too, for not doing their jobs. But it's not their kids on the line. Shame on us.
2
I originally thought "broken windows" referred solely to property repairs: forcing property owners to repair broken windows, pick up trash, and remove graffiti on their neglected slump properties and vacant lots. It might also refer to the city fixing potholes, broken sidewalk curbs, and other items that tend to get neglected in low-income neighborhoods.
The idea was that repairing properties would send a message that the neighborhood matters, and that people are paying attention. Applying that same level of attention to misdemeanors such as turnstile-jumping supposedly made the subways safer. However it doesn't justify killing someone for a misdemeanor right on the spot.
The idea was that repairing properties would send a message that the neighborhood matters, and that people are paying attention. Applying that same level of attention to misdemeanors such as turnstile-jumping supposedly made the subways safer. However it doesn't justify killing someone for a misdemeanor right on the spot.
3
As inconvenient as the facts might be, it is useful to recall that broken windows policing was not adjudged unconstitutional in New York. The case was tried before a notoriously liberal and anti-police federal judge, who was strongly rebuked by the court of appeals for bias, prejudgment and legal error. NYC then elected Mayor Sandinista, who had campaigned on reigning in the police and abandoning stop and frisk. He promptly ended the case to avoid a final judgment adverse to his view.
Broken windows policing refers to an visible, aggressive, zero-tolerance police presence in areas notorious for crime, violence and drug activity. Contrary to Mr. Blow, there is nothing inherently racist about deploying the police where the crime is. Nor does it require any special intuition to believe that criminal activity will increase in an area when it is clear that the police have been told to back off.
Mr. Blow and others are scrambling to make this issue far more than it is is for two reasons. First, there is a major movement among Democrats to decrease felony incarceration and thereby increase the numbers of likely Democrats eligible to vote. Second, the new Democrat electoral formula requires unusually large voter turnout by African Americans. Keeping this issue inflamed is designed to encourage that turnout.
Cops who abuse their authority should be prosecuted, and reasonable people could find a way to do that without making all officers suspects. Politics prevent that.
Broken windows policing refers to an visible, aggressive, zero-tolerance police presence in areas notorious for crime, violence and drug activity. Contrary to Mr. Blow, there is nothing inherently racist about deploying the police where the crime is. Nor does it require any special intuition to believe that criminal activity will increase in an area when it is clear that the police have been told to back off.
Mr. Blow and others are scrambling to make this issue far more than it is is for two reasons. First, there is a major movement among Democrats to decrease felony incarceration and thereby increase the numbers of likely Democrats eligible to vote. Second, the new Democrat electoral formula requires unusually large voter turnout by African Americans. Keeping this issue inflamed is designed to encourage that turnout.
Cops who abuse their authority should be prosecuted, and reasonable people could find a way to do that without making all officers suspects. Politics prevent that.
12
Charles and his fellow travelers in politics, punditry and professional activism are doing the Black community a huge disservice by their victimization rant and blaming all problems in the Black community on white racism. You cannot fix a problem unless you identify the cause. Yes, it is likely that events from prior centuries set the table, but current dysfunction in Black communities is more a result of the breakdown of social structures than slavery.
And in any case, we can't change past history. We can, however, improve the social structures in Black communities. I would start with decriminalizing drugs, which would remove the incentive to deal drugs, fight over turf and eliminate arrests for drug use. Then by whatever means necessary eliminate the gangs, or reduce their influence to a fraction of what they have currently. Third, I would insist on accountability in the Black community and eliminate incentives for bad behavior.
Fourth, I would insert police in schools and restore corporal punishment. Those who disrupt or intimidate students attempting to succeed or teachers should be sent to a more strict environment.
I would, if necessary, remove children from broken homes headed by nonworking drug using parents and put them in a kibbutz like situation until they have completed HS.
Finally, I'd take away the platform of those who make a career out of blaming racism for all Black problems. Free speech yes, but not shouting fire in a crowded theater.
And in any case, we can't change past history. We can, however, improve the social structures in Black communities. I would start with decriminalizing drugs, which would remove the incentive to deal drugs, fight over turf and eliminate arrests for drug use. Then by whatever means necessary eliminate the gangs, or reduce their influence to a fraction of what they have currently. Third, I would insist on accountability in the Black community and eliminate incentives for bad behavior.
Fourth, I would insert police in schools and restore corporal punishment. Those who disrupt or intimidate students attempting to succeed or teachers should be sent to a more strict environment.
I would, if necessary, remove children from broken homes headed by nonworking drug using parents and put them in a kibbutz like situation until they have completed HS.
Finally, I'd take away the platform of those who make a career out of blaming racism for all Black problems. Free speech yes, but not shouting fire in a crowded theater.
7
It is mind boggling how people like Mr. Blow look at these issues and wonder why black people are so much more impacted by what the police do and just refuse to acknowledge that fact that blacks commit crimes at a multiple of the rate of society in general. They complain about the police conduct but not about the crime rate in their own community. It is comical. Mayor Bloomberg summed it up nicely when looking at the stop and frisk data. Given the rate that blacks commit gun crimes in NYC the police were actually stopping them at too low of a rate during stop and frisk. Statistics don't lie. Hey Black America, stop committing crimes!
38
Good article. The 'broken windows' idea sounded good when it was proposed, but it needs to be examined critically. When I was a young man, a white, it bugged me when I was stopped by police for simply walking at night. I can only imagine what it means for young African American men today to be singled out for examination. At best it is degrading. At worst it creates opportunities for abuse.
6
"If there's a national mood that starts to see police as the bad guys, the police as the enemy responsible for these problems, it makes it a hell of a lot harder to police," said Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer and professor of policing. "One way that cops deal with that is that they just stop policing those people."
A former New York Police Department officer, Bill Stanton, agreed that an uptick in crime can be linked to police being less assertive.
"When you take away police pride and you take away giving them the benefit of the doubt ... and you're going to call them racist and you're going to prosecute them for doing nothing wrong," Stanton said, "then what happens is they're going to roll back. They're not going to go that extra mile."
A former New York Police Department officer, Bill Stanton, agreed that an uptick in crime can be linked to police being less assertive.
"When you take away police pride and you take away giving them the benefit of the doubt ... and you're going to call them racist and you're going to prosecute them for doing nothing wrong," Stanton said, "then what happens is they're going to roll back. They're not going to go that extra mile."
29
Mr. Blow you are still falling into the stereotype. There are some people who cause a lot of crime or have criminal behavior, that does not mean they are always a "criminal". If we start to call a person a "criminal" rather than a specific act as being "criminal" then our police and the public can dehumanize them and think it is okay to "shoot to kill" if they come at you, whether armed or not...so be wary of labeling a person as a "criminal" rather than their behavior.
5
It's funny how the same free loving people jump up and down about the violation of our civil liberties by the NSA etc., but feel very comfortable with stop and frisk and other broken windows policing that infringe on the rights of Americans. And yes I am talking to liberals and conservatives alike.
11
I moved into a black majority neighborhood in Brooklyn about 20 years ago. Within a few weeks, I knew who the small number of hoodlums were and who the decent people were. I avoided the hoodlums, and treated the decent people the same way they treated me – as neighbors and fellow New Yorkers.
I've never understood why the NYPD, with their budgets, manpower, and intelligence capabilities couldn't know what I knew quickly from simply living in and observing my neighborhood.
I've never understood how any sane or decent police official could believe that stopping and humiliating black males who are doing nothing wrong at a rate of 96% of lawful persons to 4% of wrong doers makes any kind of policing or constitutional sense.
Now that a serious reaction to police violence is growing nationwide, we're being told by police and police union officials that we either have to go back to ignoring and excusing police violence and unconstitutional policies or the cops will stand back and let the criminal element run amok.
This is unacceptable. Police are public servants, just like any other. They don't get to decide whether they do their jobs or not. They don't get stand by petulantly while the public is mauled.
It's time, way past time, to begin a real reformation of American criminal justice. That specifically includes the outsize power of police unions, and the refusal of some police officers to do their jobs unless they are given a pass to break the law.
I've never understood why the NYPD, with their budgets, manpower, and intelligence capabilities couldn't know what I knew quickly from simply living in and observing my neighborhood.
I've never understood how any sane or decent police official could believe that stopping and humiliating black males who are doing nothing wrong at a rate of 96% of lawful persons to 4% of wrong doers makes any kind of policing or constitutional sense.
Now that a serious reaction to police violence is growing nationwide, we're being told by police and police union officials that we either have to go back to ignoring and excusing police violence and unconstitutional policies or the cops will stand back and let the criminal element run amok.
This is unacceptable. Police are public servants, just like any other. They don't get to decide whether they do their jobs or not. They don't get stand by petulantly while the public is mauled.
It's time, way past time, to begin a real reformation of American criminal justice. That specifically includes the outsize power of police unions, and the refusal of some police officers to do their jobs unless they are given a pass to break the law.
25
stop and frisk works. stop it and viola, crime goes up, not hard to figure out. A+B=C
43
So based on that logic, they should immediately start running a strong stop & frisk policy in all wealthy white neighborhoods as well, as that will reduce crime rates. I cannot wait to see the white Wall Streeters in the $4000 suits get arrested and locked up for possession of cocaine.
2
Once again, Mr. Blow sets up his straw man and neglects to provide it with sufficient support to withstand the elements.
Perhaps Mr. Blow would like to address the infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars of public money over the past five decades in the "War on Poverty" and what those hundreds of billions have actually accomplished.
It would also be interesting to learn of his plans for eliminating "poverty" from the very communities that have been the alleged beneficiaries of all of that public largess while admitting openly that the previous infusions of public cash have had little or no positive result.
Perhaps Mr. Blow would like to address the infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars of public money over the past five decades in the "War on Poverty" and what those hundreds of billions have actually accomplished.
It would also be interesting to learn of his plans for eliminating "poverty" from the very communities that have been the alleged beneficiaries of all of that public largess while admitting openly that the previous infusions of public cash have had little or no positive result.
27
The following is just one example of how poorly reasoned and/or inaccurate this editorial is. It states:
“And yet, only a handful of these [killings by police] have spawned large protests or sustained national media coverage.
“People have an intrinsic intelligence about such things. Outrage isn’t constant or random. It is conditional and precise.”
“Conditional and precise”, are you kidding?
The protesting, rioting, arson, and shooting following the killing of Micheal Brown was spread over three months. This despite the fact that shortly after his killing there was testimony, briefly shown on national TV, from a young black female witness directly supporting Officer Wilson’s claim that, when Wilson tried to question Brown about a crime Brown had just committed, Brown reached into Wilson’s police car and fought with Wilson causing the policeman’s gun to fire inside the car.
To any halfway “conditional and precise” population this alone should have suggested that Officer Wilson claim his shooting of Brown was in self-defense may, in fact, have been true. This should be particularly true in a country where a person is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty – or, at a moral minimum, should not be presumed guilty until the evidence as to his guilt or innocence has been uncovered. When that evidence was later uncovered it strongly supported Officer Wilson’s claim that his shooting of Brown was justified as self-defense.
“And yet, only a handful of these [killings by police] have spawned large protests or sustained national media coverage.
“People have an intrinsic intelligence about such things. Outrage isn’t constant or random. It is conditional and precise.”
“Conditional and precise”, are you kidding?
The protesting, rioting, arson, and shooting following the killing of Micheal Brown was spread over three months. This despite the fact that shortly after his killing there was testimony, briefly shown on national TV, from a young black female witness directly supporting Officer Wilson’s claim that, when Wilson tried to question Brown about a crime Brown had just committed, Brown reached into Wilson’s police car and fought with Wilson causing the policeman’s gun to fire inside the car.
To any halfway “conditional and precise” population this alone should have suggested that Officer Wilson claim his shooting of Brown was in self-defense may, in fact, have been true. This should be particularly true in a country where a person is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty – or, at a moral minimum, should not be presumed guilty until the evidence as to his guilt or innocence has been uncovered. When that evidence was later uncovered it strongly supported Officer Wilson’s claim that his shooting of Brown was justified as self-defense.
23
"People in these black communities, it seems, are being asked to make an impossible choice: accept the sprawling, ruinous collateral damage — including killings of unarmed black people — in police departments’ wars on crime, or complain about excessive force and attempt to curtail it only to have criminals roam free."
That statement is the exact type of "rhetorical slight of hand" that Charles Blow accuses others of doing. He promotes a false choice, and then condemns anyone who questions him.
Sociological data is always fuzzy, but the recent data follows Koch's postulate as much as any. Why? Because crime was lower during period of poor economic conditions and it is rising now, when the economy has improved. What has changed? Condemnation of police officers.
Charles Blow, and people like him, continue to promote their racial agenda at the expense of the black community. In Charles Blow's case, it is reprehensible because he does so to ensure his job and privileges for himself and his children (e.g. affirmative action admission to Yale). Shame on him and those other agitators who are exploiting and condemnation those in need.
That statement is the exact type of "rhetorical slight of hand" that Charles Blow accuses others of doing. He promotes a false choice, and then condemns anyone who questions him.
Sociological data is always fuzzy, but the recent data follows Koch's postulate as much as any. Why? Because crime was lower during period of poor economic conditions and it is rising now, when the economy has improved. What has changed? Condemnation of police officers.
Charles Blow, and people like him, continue to promote their racial agenda at the expense of the black community. In Charles Blow's case, it is reprehensible because he does so to ensure his job and privileges for himself and his children (e.g. affirmative action admission to Yale). Shame on him and those other agitators who are exploiting and condemnation those in need.
27
In the film "Giuliani Time" film released theatrically in 2006, that I produced, Professor George Kelling, co-author wih Wilson of the 1981 New Republc magazine article article presenting "the "Broken Windows Theory" of policing, rapidly adopted by WIlliam Bratton as Police COmmissioner when he was hired by Mayor Giuliani in 1994 says this (at 1:41:10): "Broken Windows, as I generally thought of it and present it, Broken Windows is a means of restoring order by enforcing the law against minor offenses, because I really believe if you take care of the minor things, the major things will take care of themselves. The goal was never to turn Broken Windows into an arrest effort, and I think the New York City Police Department lost the high moral ground for a period. and that it was not aggressive enough in pursuing crime across the board of the communities found in the minority community. There is a divide.. but they certainly alerted us that in a democratic society you can't do it by terror, the citizens will pull back from you and nullify your actions." And so it has played out and with the Courts finding much of these theories and their oppressive implementation andpractices unconstitutional and rulings have ended the so-called "Quality of Life-"Zero Tolerance"abuses of "Giuliani Time"
In the case of massive "Stop & Frisk" policies of Suppression policing
In the case of massive "Stop & Frisk" policies of Suppression policing
Once confronted with criminality, police have a tough, on-the-spot situation to handle. Most crime is incubated through poor schools, bad neighborhoods and often poor parenting. If we can decide or go along with failed trillion dollar wars, shouldn't we be able to apply top effort to prioritizing our kids not growing into criminals? All of our criminals started out as someone's baby. Getting the next generation well launched should be at least on par with a strong defense budget.
1
Mr. Blow - You need to step back and look at the fundamental facts driving this issue. There are two: first, 'young Black men' constitute 2% of the U.S. population yet they commit 60% of all violent crimes; second, since LBJ's welfare state efforts, the Black family unit has been devastated with the disappearance on a male father figure in 70% of Black families. So is it any wonder that when young Black men with no male example growing up, confront police who are on edge already, a violent outcome is sometimes the result? Who threw the stone that broke the window is of little importance at that point.
31
The Supreme Court has ruled that the police do not have a constitutional duty to protect anyone from harm so I'm not sure what Blow means by "dangerous unethical dereliction of duty". If the community feels that they want a hands-off approach, the police will just come to hang up the crime scene tape, take photos and witness statements.
I'm really glad that Blow is so confident that the spike in crimes had nothing to do with ending "broken windows" policing (it's entirely possible that its employment was merely coincidental rather than contributory to the decades-long reduction in crime across the US).
Because if he is wrong, the cost in lost lives and fallen property values would be squarely on his head and like-minded politicians/commentators.
I'm really glad that Blow is so confident that the spike in crimes had nothing to do with ending "broken windows" policing (it's entirely possible that its employment was merely coincidental rather than contributory to the decades-long reduction in crime across the US).
Because if he is wrong, the cost in lost lives and fallen property values would be squarely on his head and like-minded politicians/commentators.
15
The New Nationwide Crime Wave:
The consequences of the ‘Ferguson effect’ are already appearing. The main victims of growing violence will be the inner-city poor.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-nationwide-crime-wave-1432938425
The consequences of the ‘Ferguson effect’ are already appearing. The main victims of growing violence will be the inner-city poor.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-nationwide-crime-wave-1432938425
16
Good grief. I saw Mr Blow on CNN and he verified my previous beliefs that he insists on seeing racism where there is little or none, and that if you hold an opinion that differs you might as well be in the KKK. Okay, that might be a little exaggerated but its on it is on that track. The Broken Windows policing works. It reduced crime in black neighbors where black on black crime was horrendous. Sadly Mr Blow insists on looking elsewhere for reasons yet to be found to explain the crime reductions but he "knows" it wasn't broken windows policing. The current uptick in violent crime is a direct result of the broad brush painting of cops, black and white, as racist you-know-whats who only want to kill black males. Mr Blow hasn't helped change that perception, although he could if he wished to, any more than Al Sharpton and his band of race baiters has. We'd all love a world where the police didn't have to fire their weapons, and civilian weapons where used only for sport. We aren't there yet and Mr Blows insistence on the absurd won't change that.
20
Once again Charles leaves out facts.
1) if Blacks are the "victims" of police at a higher rate than whites, you must take into account that Blacks commit 8x the murders and violent crimes. This huge disproportion in crime rates will lead more Blacks % wise to come into antagonistic encounters with police.
2) We don't know someone was unarmed until after the fact. How would Wilson have known Brown was unarmed?
3) Yes, police work for the people. But that also means they represent the people and are a symbol of authority. When someone attacks a police officer or flees when told to stop, that officer has to assume that this is not a person who respects the law or is restrained by norms of behavior.
4) Progressives view "broken windows policing" as merely an excuse to harass minorities and want to portray those stopped as innocents rather than recognize the reality of most of those stopped and frisked have been engaged in "sub criminal" behavior -- loitering, harassing, using drugs in public.
5) Crime rates dropped with broken windows policing. You can theorize
about other causes, but let's have some proof.
6) Who has benefitted from the police getting the bad guys off the street? Whites in suburbia? Don't think so. You are cutting off your nose to spite your face.
7) "Nine out of ten had committed no crime." That's a 10% crime rate, if you do the math.
Nice try Charles, but once again you fail to convince.
1) if Blacks are the "victims" of police at a higher rate than whites, you must take into account that Blacks commit 8x the murders and violent crimes. This huge disproportion in crime rates will lead more Blacks % wise to come into antagonistic encounters with police.
2) We don't know someone was unarmed until after the fact. How would Wilson have known Brown was unarmed?
3) Yes, police work for the people. But that also means they represent the people and are a symbol of authority. When someone attacks a police officer or flees when told to stop, that officer has to assume that this is not a person who respects the law or is restrained by norms of behavior.
4) Progressives view "broken windows policing" as merely an excuse to harass minorities and want to portray those stopped as innocents rather than recognize the reality of most of those stopped and frisked have been engaged in "sub criminal" behavior -- loitering, harassing, using drugs in public.
5) Crime rates dropped with broken windows policing. You can theorize
about other causes, but let's have some proof.
6) Who has benefitted from the police getting the bad guys off the street? Whites in suburbia? Don't think so. You are cutting off your nose to spite your face.
7) "Nine out of ten had committed no crime." That's a 10% crime rate, if you do the math.
Nice try Charles, but once again you fail to convince.
23
I am all for the 'Broken Windows' theory of law enforcement IF it is uniformly applied to all demographics. As someone who was raised and still lives in the East Village, one only has to observe the drunken Bro herds and their attendant OMG girl friends who scream, urinate, puke, and vandalize property from Wednesday night to Saturday night. The vast majority are white, entitled, privileged millennials, current NYU students or recently graduated from some other Frat hell hole university. These herds run free with hardly any repercussions from the NYPD. Their behavior is romanticized by Fox News and fueled by the current REBNY business model of packing in millennials (3,4,5. etc.) into so called “luxury” housing. So let’s get real here. SantaCon? WOO HOO! Black Lives Matter? Thugs! BTW, the Manhattan Institute? Yes, the Manhattan Institute.
4
You can have stop-and-frisk and the resulting two or three hundred people still alive in the poor neighborhoods, or you can saddle up your unicorn, sniff the air of ideological purity, and attend all the hundreds of extra funerals.
Meanwhile, every grudge that has been accumulated in twenty years is being permanently settled in the wild-west shoot-em-up town of Baltimore Gulch.
This is exactly what you always get from liberals - elitist feelings of ideological purity always outweigh the lives of the little people - especially when the little people are urban black Americans.
Just ask Margaret Sanger.
Meanwhile, every grudge that has been accumulated in twenty years is being permanently settled in the wild-west shoot-em-up town of Baltimore Gulch.
This is exactly what you always get from liberals - elitist feelings of ideological purity always outweigh the lives of the little people - especially when the little people are urban black Americans.
Just ask Margaret Sanger.
13
"People have an intrinsic intelligence about such things. Outrage isn’t constant or random. It is conditional and precise."
Everyone protesting police killings of black and brown people claims that, "while this killing was particularly appalling and has captured national attention, countless others are killed everyday." They claim that there's an "epidemic" of police killings of monorities and, it's to such an extent, that even the mayor of New York City has to have a talk with his half black son about how to interact with the police so as to minimize his chances of being murdered by them. C'mon.
Everyone protesting police killings of black and brown people claims that, "while this killing was particularly appalling and has captured national attention, countless others are killed everyday." They claim that there's an "epidemic" of police killings of monorities and, it's to such an extent, that even the mayor of New York City has to have a talk with his half black son about how to interact with the police so as to minimize his chances of being murdered by them. C'mon.
2
Speaking of romanticizing, wouldn't it be a perfect world if all of the police and all of the criminals conducted themselves in the appropriate manner all of the time.
I fully appreciate the fact that people in ethnic neighborhoods feel put upon by a heavy police presence and are often subjected to scrutiny beyond the norm. But the police are there because that is where the crimes are being committed. In NYC 10 of 77 precincts account for the lion's share of violent crime in the City. If you were the Commissioner, where would you send the cops......?
Excessive force or abusive tactics on the part of the police is inexcusable at any time or in any place. Police engaging in these activities must be held accountable. At the same time, community leaders must also take responsibility for their words and actions that can often lead to a further breakdown of law and order.
Unless we get responsible & cooperative leadership from both the police and the civilians in charge the only people who will suffer are those residents caught in the crossfire.
I fully appreciate the fact that people in ethnic neighborhoods feel put upon by a heavy police presence and are often subjected to scrutiny beyond the norm. But the police are there because that is where the crimes are being committed. In NYC 10 of 77 precincts account for the lion's share of violent crime in the City. If you were the Commissioner, where would you send the cops......?
Excessive force or abusive tactics on the part of the police is inexcusable at any time or in any place. Police engaging in these activities must be held accountable. At the same time, community leaders must also take responsibility for their words and actions that can often lead to a further breakdown of law and order.
Unless we get responsible & cooperative leadership from both the police and the civilians in charge the only people who will suffer are those residents caught in the crossfire.
10
Broken windows policing has clearly been shown to lead to police abuse. It is a proven gateway drug to fascistic police behavior.
The most effective method is "Community Policing" in which cops who look like the folks they are policing, walk beats in the neighborhood, live in the community and earn the respect and trust of their neighbors.
The most effective method is "Community Policing" in which cops who look like the folks they are policing, walk beats in the neighborhood, live in the community and earn the respect and trust of their neighbors.
4
Mr. Blow, I feel your righteous anger.
And it is righteous.
And it is righteous.
6
Consider this ... given the scrutiny and the presumption of guilt that police currently endure, the immediate use of cell phones by passersby to film what they assume will be criminal behavior by police, the incompetence of public officials like those in Baltimore who can't wait to put a few police skins on their wall in pursuit of their political careers, the real risk that police incur in doing their jobs, the current climate in which police run the risk of prosecution just for doing their jobs, etc.
Who would want to make police work your career. When politicians like Obama and Holder and the Baltimore prosecutor excoriate the police in general, when "community leaders" like Sharpton and pundits like Blow who make a living off of race cry for justice and protest and make the assumption that every cop is a criminal (and all the sinners saints, thanks Mick) then why in the world would anyone make a career out of police work?
While Blow and others claim to be searching for justice, what they are really doing is attempting to destroy a necessary institution for their own gain.
Who would want to make police work your career. When politicians like Obama and Holder and the Baltimore prosecutor excoriate the police in general, when "community leaders" like Sharpton and pundits like Blow who make a living off of race cry for justice and protest and make the assumption that every cop is a criminal (and all the sinners saints, thanks Mick) then why in the world would anyone make a career out of police work?
While Blow and others claim to be searching for justice, what they are really doing is attempting to destroy a necessary institution for their own gain.
13
Perhaps people just expect the highest standard of ethical conduct from the police and fair implantation of the laws.
1
I would take freedom with a messy violent collateral damage rather than a safe repression. As Americans we can ask for no less
2
Two trends amonst some segments of critics of the police are disturbing: first, there are those who recently protested in NYC against the idea of restoring the numbers of officers that were allowed to drop during the Bloomberg years; second, the conflation of broken windows policing with the serious abuses of the post-9/11 years. The deliberate thinning of police ranks during the Bloomberg years under a mayor who was determined to get more done with less fueled, in part, the stop-and-frisk debacle that tore at the city's social fabric. With patrol numbers down and a numbers-driven mayoral administration, the Compstat program -- which had been a success crime-fighting tool prior to Bloomberg -- became a perverse "numbers game" in which high numbers of "stops" was a good thing. As for "broken windows", with quality-of-life problems -- particularly noise abuse -- being such persistent issues, to dissuade police from pursuing these offenses (which they don't really pursue enough, I would say) is something that we all will pay for in terms of, well, quality-of-life.
Militarization, stifling the right to assembly, unnecessary use of force (deadly and otherwise), and the like, have grown post 9/11 and are where the focus should be. Critics of "broken windows" and of restoring the pre-Bloomberg headcount are overreaching.
Militarization, stifling the right to assembly, unnecessary use of force (deadly and otherwise), and the like, have grown post 9/11 and are where the focus should be. Critics of "broken windows" and of restoring the pre-Bloomberg headcount are overreaching.
5
My black neighbor and I had a conversation on the topic of policing recently. He wants the police to pull out all stops. He is for stop and frisk and a true law and order man.
24
But if there are any officers intentionally restraining themselves from doing normal police work because citizens have protested over PERCEIVED excessive force, then those officers are guilty of a dangerous, unethical dereliction of duty.
-------------------------------------------
Really? Any action by police against the blacks will be PERCEIVED as excessive if carried out against fleeing or resisting suspects.
The uptick in violence simply shows that if the blacks were not being incarcerated or killed in police action, they will go about killing themselves. Black on Black violence is more serious than the random police shooting of blacks after resistance or fleeing.
-------------------------------------------
Really? Any action by police against the blacks will be PERCEIVED as excessive if carried out against fleeing or resisting suspects.
The uptick in violence simply shows that if the blacks were not being incarcerated or killed in police action, they will go about killing themselves. Black on Black violence is more serious than the random police shooting of blacks after resistance or fleeing.
28
Is Charles Blow really trying to explain the crime spike in Baltimore? Or is he trying to rule out certain explanations? For example, it is simply impossible that the protests that turned violent could have any bearing on the uptick. Such theories are, he claims, "pernicious and slanderous." Yet we have learned that Baltimore is now awash with looted drugs from the CVS stores that were torched. These drugs may well be driving gang violence.
17
The uptick in violence in NYC as reported here in the pages of the NYT is due to the abandonment of stop-and-frisk and broken windows. You just can't have it both ways, Charles, and I think most people would prefer the minor inconvenience of a pat-down to getting shot.
21
'...there being something intrinsically amiss in blackness or black culture...'
There is something intrinsically amiss in *poor* black culture and the only people who pretend this is not so do not live in poor black neighborhoods.
In inner city projects, where generation after generation of families have lived, no one ever having held a job, no one ever accepting responsibility for their lives, there is a law of diminishing returns.
Every decade for sixty years, the best and the brightest have left for safer neighborhoods, leaving only the old, the sick, and the dregs of society behind to prey on those who cannot leave.
Mr Blow has nothing in common with these predators, except skin color, and to equate himself with them simply because of that is an insidious form of racism.
There is something intrinsically amiss in *poor* black culture and the only people who pretend this is not so do not live in poor black neighborhoods.
In inner city projects, where generation after generation of families have lived, no one ever having held a job, no one ever accepting responsibility for their lives, there is a law of diminishing returns.
Every decade for sixty years, the best and the brightest have left for safer neighborhoods, leaving only the old, the sick, and the dregs of society behind to prey on those who cannot leave.
Mr Blow has nothing in common with these predators, except skin color, and to equate himself with them simply because of that is an insidious form of racism.
27
By all means revive stop and frisk with one change, require that a significant percentage of the stops take place in wealthy neighborhoods, stop and frisk the children of the people who live in those expensive apartment buildings and let's see how well that goes over.
3
That's a complete waste of time since that's not where the crime is taking place. Let's be adults here. Similarly - blacks who move to nice areas generally have less problems with police - unless of course they are dressed like a rapper.
1
When one plausible explanation so easily becomes a "most" plausible explanation, we begin to understand how an action of last resort so often becomes an initial response of choice. I believe it was the Chinese humanist Confucius who noted how imprecise language can lead to wrongful action.
Does anyone remember Yull Morales? If you don't, google him. Morales fatally stabbed Brian Watkins, essentially closing the disastrous reign of Mayor Dinkins. Morales was neither black nor a known criminal entity until the moment he ruthlessly took Watkins life. Why take Watkins life? He needed Watkins father's money to pay a dance hall cover charge.
However, something else was at play. Morales was a gang member. The gang never had to think twice about carrying weapons because there was no stop and frisk at the time. They were free to terrorize anyone. Watkins and his family presented themselves a target rich environment for the gang and Morales.
Would stop and frisk prevented Watkins murder? Perhaps not. But had stop and frisk been enacted Morales and his gang would most likely not to have been so bold about their actions.
Sadly, we are on the precipice of another Dinkins era crime wave where criminals know they have nothing to fear. So maybe writers like Charles Blow should think about the consequences of their op-eds that to an extent they provoke others to violence against others . I doubt he will.
However, something else was at play. Morales was a gang member. The gang never had to think twice about carrying weapons because there was no stop and frisk at the time. They were free to terrorize anyone. Watkins and his family presented themselves a target rich environment for the gang and Morales.
Would stop and frisk prevented Watkins murder? Perhaps not. But had stop and frisk been enacted Morales and his gang would most likely not to have been so bold about their actions.
Sadly, we are on the precipice of another Dinkins era crime wave where criminals know they have nothing to fear. So maybe writers like Charles Blow should think about the consequences of their op-eds that to an extent they provoke others to violence against others . I doubt he will.
24
An idea on the "broken windows" theme: fix the windows, rebuild the ghetto, bring in jobs and commerce. Add a sprinkle of hope into the program and people tend to thrive.
Our major problem these last 45 years; we have tried to run this vast, complex machine that is the U.S.A. on the cheap. We have allowed wealth to be hoarded by a minuscule percentage of Americans and we can't find the money to pay our cops, our firefighters, our teachers, our best and brightest.
We have an election coming up and if we allow the Kochs, the Adelsens, the Roves to buy this one we have come to the end of democracy.
Our major problem these last 45 years; we have tried to run this vast, complex machine that is the U.S.A. on the cheap. We have allowed wealth to be hoarded by a minuscule percentage of Americans and we can't find the money to pay our cops, our firefighters, our teachers, our best and brightest.
We have an election coming up and if we allow the Kochs, the Adelsens, the Roves to buy this one we have come to the end of democracy.
4
To say we have run things " on the cheap" willfully ignores the estimated 22 trillion spent in the "War on Poverty" to date. What we should admit is that what we have been doing isn't working, and it is time to try something else.
More has been spent on the so-called "war on poverty" than all real wars combined. And maybe a little navel gazing on your part is in order rather than blaming all of society's troubles on the Koch brothers.
I can comment on what I see in NYC. I remember pre Bratton/Giuliani NYC. It was not fun. For those under 30 years of age or new "New Yorkers", they do not remember the shootings, the unsafe parks, fear of being on the Subway at night etc.Those things were real.
I recently spoke with a retired NYPD police officer that worked in "Brooklyn South." He shared with me that current police officers are now "afraid" to approach people who a prudent layperson would consider displaying criminal behavior - such as congregating on a corner, meeting with the same people over and over and taking out and putting money and other objects in his or her pocket. Behavior that looks a lot like drug dealing.
Why? Because the pendulum of public opinion and scrutiny on police actions has swung to a lack of trust in our police. The police are hesitant to act ... they are fearful of being vilified for trying to do their jobs on Youtube as well as in the New York Times.
Residents in Bedford Stuyvesant - a predominately African America community in Brooklyn- are now clamoring for more police in their neighborhood because crime and shootings are up.
We need to find a balance in policing and public safety. And we need for young African American men and women, despite how difficult it can be, to become police and public safety officers. In other words, we need to become the change we wish to see.
I recently spoke with a retired NYPD police officer that worked in "Brooklyn South." He shared with me that current police officers are now "afraid" to approach people who a prudent layperson would consider displaying criminal behavior - such as congregating on a corner, meeting with the same people over and over and taking out and putting money and other objects in his or her pocket. Behavior that looks a lot like drug dealing.
Why? Because the pendulum of public opinion and scrutiny on police actions has swung to a lack of trust in our police. The police are hesitant to act ... they are fearful of being vilified for trying to do their jobs on Youtube as well as in the New York Times.
Residents in Bedford Stuyvesant - a predominately African America community in Brooklyn- are now clamoring for more police in their neighborhood because crime and shootings are up.
We need to find a balance in policing and public safety. And we need for young African American men and women, despite how difficult it can be, to become police and public safety officers. In other words, we need to become the change we wish to see.
20
As usual, Mr. Blow dances around a big part of the problem. We can agree that police should treat people with respect and that their have been cases where they went too far. There are far to many big cities with large African American populations that have a big crime problem. Cities and states have struggled with this for years, often to no avail. It seems presumptuous to me that non black America can somehow fix this problem, just like it would be that non white America can fix the problems with white America. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror and see your problems and deal with them. If you do this, others can help, but if you do not recognize a problem there is no hope.
34
There are obviously huge problems with our justice system, including mandatory drug sentencing laws and stop-and-frisk, and their often racist implementations.
Why, though, does Blow refuse to admit that violent crime is disproportionately enacted by blacks on other blacks? That's the genesis of the Mac Donald quote. Whether it's the result of poverty or culture (statistics that Blow never brings up, because he never even addresses this question), it certainly means that a disproportionate amount of blacks will rightfully be in contact with the police, often violently. The question of black criminality must be addressed concurrently with justice reform, because if no one talks about it, we won't even know what's happening. If you control for income, does this disproportionate level of criminality disappear?
Learning more about this issue can only help the current debate. The answers to these questions will help focus the badly needed reforms.
Why, though, does Blow refuse to admit that violent crime is disproportionately enacted by blacks on other blacks? That's the genesis of the Mac Donald quote. Whether it's the result of poverty or culture (statistics that Blow never brings up, because he never even addresses this question), it certainly means that a disproportionate amount of blacks will rightfully be in contact with the police, often violently. The question of black criminality must be addressed concurrently with justice reform, because if no one talks about it, we won't even know what's happening. If you control for income, does this disproportionate level of criminality disappear?
Learning more about this issue can only help the current debate. The answers to these questions will help focus the badly needed reforms.
11
Blackmamba's book report essay was equal parts patronizing and intellectually insulting to my race, heritage and the facts.
The "broken window" theory is actually a bedrock principle of liberal policy, a Keynesian construct that gained prominence during the New Deal era. The concept is extrapolated to policing to create a narrative suggesting cops are preemptively targeting Black people.
This theory may have held some significance about 50 years before I was born, but is no longer valid, especially in Obama's post-racial America. We have a Black President, Loretta Lynch is the second Black US Attorney General we've had, and thanks to carnival barkers like Charles Blow and other as Obama called them at a Congressional Black Caucus Event "professional Black victims" have created a societal free pass from accountability, using the color of my skin to exploit White guilt.
I am living, breathing proof that nothing being discussed here with regard to this imaginary cloud of perpetual racism by Whites in law enforcement against all Blacks is true. Maybe it is time for people who share my skin color to share my experiences and life choices to do the right thing, respect America, work hard and stay out of trouble.
It certainly worked for me.
The "broken window" theory is actually a bedrock principle of liberal policy, a Keynesian construct that gained prominence during the New Deal era. The concept is extrapolated to policing to create a narrative suggesting cops are preemptively targeting Black people.
This theory may have held some significance about 50 years before I was born, but is no longer valid, especially in Obama's post-racial America. We have a Black President, Loretta Lynch is the second Black US Attorney General we've had, and thanks to carnival barkers like Charles Blow and other as Obama called them at a Congressional Black Caucus Event "professional Black victims" have created a societal free pass from accountability, using the color of my skin to exploit White guilt.
I am living, breathing proof that nothing being discussed here with regard to this imaginary cloud of perpetual racism by Whites in law enforcement against all Blacks is true. Maybe it is time for people who share my skin color to share my experiences and life choices to do the right thing, respect America, work hard and stay out of trouble.
It certainly worked for me.
19
Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. Crime rates historically change with the population of young males and the extent of poverty and hopelessness in a society. Those are the first factors I would research when crime rates spike.
1
What's fueling the rise in crime is police officers, perhaps knowingly, slowing their responses, as a reaction to current public opinion, or as a way to avoid changing the status quo. They may also be afraid, particularly if they can't count on broken windows policies being beyond review by authorities and the public.
1
Appropriate levels of policing should be determined by the local community, not the state, not the Feds. I believe "broken window" policing works, but won't impose my beliefs on a locale in which I do not live. If a city does not utilize it, chances are, I will be less likely to go there. If the residents of a community want a smaller police presence or lax enforcement, that's fine. If they want to except that for increased violence, that's a trade-off that they think is acceptable.
2
" If they want to except that for increased violence, that's a trade-off that they think is acceptable."
But the expected increase in violence will not be confined to the community in question and will eventually "spill over" into surrounding communities which may well have a much lower tolerance for violence.
But the expected increase in violence will not be confined to the community in question and will eventually "spill over" into surrounding communities which may well have a much lower tolerance for violence.
1
Police should consider their actions before engaging, but should not restrain themselves? You don't see the contradiction there? They should go to jail for doing something wrong, even by happenstance, or just by being involved, 'all 6 cops involved were charged? Even if this was outright murder which I don't think it was, only 2 were actually responsible," but they are derelict of duty if they don't participate? It sounds to me like you just hate cops or have impossible expectations of people who are in fact humans, simply because they are paid by tax dollars.
6
Mr. Blow relates how: " as the Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald put it ...(Wall St. Journal):
The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months.” ... and continues, saying:
"Actually, “most plausible” is simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything. And, it seems to me that this has the effect, ... of conflating protests with criminality, ..." The protests did an inordinate amount of crime.
Thousands of businesses were burned down. Many of those thousands of buildings weren't covered by insurance.
Someone is having to pay for the rebuilding, for the insurance, if any, even if it is ever done within decades. The legacy is not pretty.
And most of those business-owners hurt, were of course not same race as the 'protestors'.
If the grievances are with the police, why did they do this to all those people who of course weren't of their same skin color?
This amounts to the very same sort of hate crime that protestors accuse the police of. In Mr. Blow's own words: " (It's) simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything", any allegations against any police misconduct!
By Mr. Blow's own kind of argument, the protests had no basis, which of course isn't completely true.
The police have a very hard job knowing anymore how to control even usual crime, let alone this spurt of crime brought on by such criminality.
The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months.” ... and continues, saying:
"Actually, “most plausible” is simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything. And, it seems to me that this has the effect, ... of conflating protests with criminality, ..." The protests did an inordinate amount of crime.
Thousands of businesses were burned down. Many of those thousands of buildings weren't covered by insurance.
Someone is having to pay for the rebuilding, for the insurance, if any, even if it is ever done within decades. The legacy is not pretty.
And most of those business-owners hurt, were of course not same race as the 'protestors'.
If the grievances are with the police, why did they do this to all those people who of course weren't of their same skin color?
This amounts to the very same sort of hate crime that protestors accuse the police of. In Mr. Blow's own words: " (It's) simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything", any allegations against any police misconduct!
By Mr. Blow's own kind of argument, the protests had no basis, which of course isn't completely true.
The police have a very hard job knowing anymore how to control even usual crime, let alone this spurt of crime brought on by such criminality.
3
What unmitigated nonsense. As pointed out below, blacks make up 13% of the population. What's not mentioned is that they commit 28% of the felonies, 49% of murders, 33% of rapes and 55% of robberies. These are hardly statistics inflated by arrests for selling loose cigarettes and loitering.
It would be refreshing if Mr. Blows outrage would be directed at the social pathologies that are behind these numbers such as the oft repeated 70% of all out-of-wedlock births to black mothers.
It would be refreshing if Mr. Blows outrage would be directed at the social pathologies that are behind these numbers such as the oft repeated 70% of all out-of-wedlock births to black mothers.
34
As is unfortunately typical, prevailing opinion creates a false dichotomy with regard to a complex situation. No one is saying that police forces are not a necessity. But to respond to the legitimate grievances of marginalized individuals with a full embrace of excessive policies is to exacerbate an overwhelming experience. Worse, it solves no problems.
The solutions to these problems are long term and require reconsideration and rebuilding of many of our social systems. We Americans are very poor at nuance and long term planning, and accordingly approach solutions with a sledgehammer. We need to take a hard look at the variables which cause these situations. Our gun laws are absolutely insane, and we swim in a sea of violence because fringe extremists refuse to recognize the pernicious evil of free and easy access to firearms. Our justice system is blatantly unequal. Our economic policies for decades have sacrificed the poor and the lower middle classes on the altar of "globalism" and the greed of the 1%. So instead of investing in our nation, our citizens, and our cities, we ship jobs to foreign countries and gut the opportunities of our people. Instead of investing in equal educational opportunities for all American children, we base funding upon real estate value.
Either we change and make a genuine investment in the lives of Americans of color, or we maintain a discriminatory system, and needless violence, and loss of life.
The solutions to these problems are long term and require reconsideration and rebuilding of many of our social systems. We Americans are very poor at nuance and long term planning, and accordingly approach solutions with a sledgehammer. We need to take a hard look at the variables which cause these situations. Our gun laws are absolutely insane, and we swim in a sea of violence because fringe extremists refuse to recognize the pernicious evil of free and easy access to firearms. Our justice system is blatantly unequal. Our economic policies for decades have sacrificed the poor and the lower middle classes on the altar of "globalism" and the greed of the 1%. So instead of investing in our nation, our citizens, and our cities, we ship jobs to foreign countries and gut the opportunities of our people. Instead of investing in equal educational opportunities for all American children, we base funding upon real estate value.
Either we change and make a genuine investment in the lives of Americans of color, or we maintain a discriminatory system, and needless violence, and loss of life.
1
Interesting. We are not postracial yet by a long stretch, and excessive force on a perceived sleigh remains. Now, real strength of the police called to maintain law and order comes, not from a display of force...but from a show of restraint, the better when gun use is of last resort, with no preconceived bias based on the color of our skin. How can the police work effectively, and efficiently, and with empathy, when the communities served are afraid of them? Continuing education in awareness of our 'blind spots' (prejudice and abuse being based on ignorance) is of the essence.
Mac Donald leaves out the main problem with how "urban reclamation " is generally done,for whose benefit,such as in Baltimore almost a quarter century ago;take a "broken window" neighborhood,move the residents out ,to some other similar neighborhood;tear down the now vacant housing,replace some of it with a couple of wonderful stadiums,mostly paid for by the public on behalf of billionaire NFL and major league team owners; surround them with nice,expensive housing,into which move affluent,mostly white residents,known as gentryfication.
A better way to do this reclamation is to give the people already living in these "broken window " neighborhoods the jobs,and when the training,building the new housing,for them AND new residents to move into.Do this with every blighted neighborhood and there would be genuine,city wide economic revitalization,especially if jobs in newly built businesses went to residents of the neighborhood.The same approach would apply to building and staffing new,good schools.
A better way to do this reclamation is to give the people already living in these "broken window " neighborhoods the jobs,and when the training,building the new housing,for them AND new residents to move into.Do this with every blighted neighborhood and there would be genuine,city wide economic revitalization,especially if jobs in newly built businesses went to residents of the neighborhood.The same approach would apply to building and staffing new,good schools.
1
Yes, that sounds nice. But, in the very neighborhood where Freddie Gray lived and died, several hundred millions had been spent building housing, for job training and schools. The stimulus granted 1.4 billion to Baltimore, for housing, schools, job training. We saw what the end result is. Money is not the issue.
We can all be thankful for the ever present camera and what it has revealed about certain abusive police misconduct. We can also support the peaceful demonstrations designed to change that conduct and our perceptions.
Is it too much to expect those who want to change the world to hold similar demonstrations in, say South Chicago, to put a stop to the senseless killing in that or similar communities? Is it only the police who are engaged in the conduct of which we disapprove, or is it also rampant in the youth in our AfricanAmerican communities? Shall we ignore the latter and march only to change the former?
Is it too much to expect those who want to change the world to hold similar demonstrations in, say South Chicago, to put a stop to the senseless killing in that or similar communities? Is it only the police who are engaged in the conduct of which we disapprove, or is it also rampant in the youth in our AfricanAmerican communities? Shall we ignore the latter and march only to change the former?
5
I served in the NYPD for 31 yrs.; 1965 to 1996, all of it on patrol from Harlem street cop to precinct commander. My assignments included service in Manhattan, Queens as a patrolman and Brooklyn as a patrol supervisor, platoon commander and eventually C.O. 2 Brooklyn precincts. I am currently an Attorney at Law.
I've had a front row seat to events that eventually brought the city to the brink of ruin in the early 1990's and to assert '0' Tolerence, or 'Broken Windows' had no effect in saving thousands of lives and restoring order from chaos is an outright lie.
For starters does anyone really believe that noise, filth, disorder, poorly maintained property and adversarial relations between people is actually not a major issue? PEOPLE WHO CAN, MOVE, and with them go the consumers, positive roll models for kids, the better educated, and yes, the tax base.
I've worked in precincts where 'shots' fired was literally an every day event; kids murdered for their sneakers and even for a 'dis' and to hear that somehow, we the police were/are the biggest problem is the mother of all scapegoating and deceit.
I've had a front row seat to events that eventually brought the city to the brink of ruin in the early 1990's and to assert '0' Tolerence, or 'Broken Windows' had no effect in saving thousands of lives and restoring order from chaos is an outright lie.
For starters does anyone really believe that noise, filth, disorder, poorly maintained property and adversarial relations between people is actually not a major issue? PEOPLE WHO CAN, MOVE, and with them go the consumers, positive roll models for kids, the better educated, and yes, the tax base.
I've worked in precincts where 'shots' fired was literally an every day event; kids murdered for their sneakers and even for a 'dis' and to hear that somehow, we the police were/are the biggest problem is the mother of all scapegoating and deceit.
184
Yea - I recall when sheepskin leathers and Air Jordan's were big in the 80's. Going to a neighborhood park with either on was literally taking your life in your hands. It wasn't pretty. I'm glad my son hasn't had to face the same thing - and I thank the police for it.
If a strategy like Broken Windows were a therapy, it would be subject to rigorous testing in a field setting approximating an experiment or clinical trial before it went to scale. We should demand the same standards to figure out if this is a sound practice and if the benefits outweigh the risks, and what alternatives there may be. Those tests are designed to identify the range of benefits and risks, information that can inform policy decisions about how to put the policy into practice. There is hardly any experimental evidence that policing that applied this theory can bring down the crime rate, compared to other policing regimes. We know there are harms, and we hope there are benefits. But compared to what? Let's get serious about deciding whether criminalizing small stuff in the name of stopping serious crime is a sound idea by testing these ideas. Right now, Broken Windows is a hunch that puts lives and social well-being at risk without proving that it's worth the tradeoffs.
1
Would that Mr. Blow write so passionately about black on black crime. Would that Mr. Blow write just a little bit about Mayor DeBlasio's discounting of a recent uptick in murders in NYC as caused by (and I paraphrase) gang activities. So don't be alarmed about that folks, since it's only gang members killing each other. Would that Mr. Blow actually develop even a tiny bit of common sense.
13
Charles Blow needs to stop genuflecting in order to avoid the hypocrisy of the black community regarding the spike in violent crimes recently. There IS something amiss in 'black culture' in America. Any group that loots and burns when a the police are implicated in the death of a black citizen, yet stays completely SILENT when, for example, blacks are committing murders currently at epidemic rates, has something amiss. Mr. Blow criticizes the policies and politics of law enforcement. We are all left wondering why he doesn't scold the black community, its mothers, fathers, and the miscreants who are actually committing the mayhem instead. Would we actually need police in say, Baltimore, if the derelicts there actually decided not to commit daily violence?
16
Baltimore police have stopped practicing broken windows policing. They now respond to calls. It is what the community wants.
8
Many people decry shootings in the inner city yet refuse to see that the proliferation of guns facilitates that which they decry.
1
What else, besides the frenzy of anti-police protests and Justice Department investigations, could be responsible for the spike in violent crime in American cities? The economy couldn't be the cause - Because President Obama has fixed the economy, right? Besides, the economic outlook for young black men has been consistently bad throughout the Obama presidency - It's no worse now that usual.
Liberals are big on suggesting that an "atmosphere" created by the political right caused this or that problem. We hear this all the time. When a mentally ill man opened fire, killing and injuring people at meeting held by Rep. Gabi Giffords, this very paper rushed to blame the incident on Sarah Palin and conservative talk radio. When a likewise demented individual shot up a movie theatre in Colorado, the liberal media was quick to assign blame to the rhetoric of the right.
So now, our cities are experiencing a surge in violent crime. There have been several assassinations of police officers from NY to New Orleans. Murders of police officers have risen.
If accusing the political left of being responsible for this surge in crime is out of line, I'd be delighted to hear another theory. Since the surge in crime has been pronounced in NYC, Baltimore, Cleveland, Oakland, Philly and LA - cities where shooting and protests made national news - it sure looks like all the anti-cop protesting, rioting and rhetoric is the likely culprit.
Liberals are big on suggesting that an "atmosphere" created by the political right caused this or that problem. We hear this all the time. When a mentally ill man opened fire, killing and injuring people at meeting held by Rep. Gabi Giffords, this very paper rushed to blame the incident on Sarah Palin and conservative talk radio. When a likewise demented individual shot up a movie theatre in Colorado, the liberal media was quick to assign blame to the rhetoric of the right.
So now, our cities are experiencing a surge in violent crime. There have been several assassinations of police officers from NY to New Orleans. Murders of police officers have risen.
If accusing the political left of being responsible for this surge in crime is out of line, I'd be delighted to hear another theory. Since the surge in crime has been pronounced in NYC, Baltimore, Cleveland, Oakland, Philly and LA - cities where shooting and protests made national news - it sure looks like all the anti-cop protesting, rioting and rhetoric is the likely culprit.
7
"But if there are any officers intentionally restraining themselves from doing normal police work because citizens have protested over perceived excessive force, then those officers are guilty of a dangerous, unethical dereliction of duty."
This is an extremely tough one, I think. In many matters, it is productive to ask what one would advise if this were MY son or daughter in uniform. Most would hope that son would never touch a gun. Wouldn't most also want their own sons or daughters to avoid, if they could, being in harm's way?
I can understand police officers (and those who love them) wanting them to avoid situations of putting their lives at risk as well as situations in which they can expect to be accused.
I am truly amazed that police departments in high crime areas are able to get people to apply for those jobs.
This is an extremely tough one, I think. In many matters, it is productive to ask what one would advise if this were MY son or daughter in uniform. Most would hope that son would never touch a gun. Wouldn't most also want their own sons or daughters to avoid, if they could, being in harm's way?
I can understand police officers (and those who love them) wanting them to avoid situations of putting their lives at risk as well as situations in which they can expect to be accused.
I am truly amazed that police departments in high crime areas are able to get people to apply for those jobs.
In a society where guns are now even allowed in churches and classrooms, we should not be surprised in an "uptick" in gun violence and try to to make spurious causal connections about police practices like "broken windows." In New York City it has been abundantly clear for some time that the police force has it in for Mayor Bill de Blasio and have been petulantly protesting and abdicating their job to "preserve and protect" rather than their bullying "stop and frisk." The word gets out in the 'hoods quickly if the "man is not on the beat." This certainly is as plausible an hypothesis as the spurious claims about overly harsh petty law enforcement that has been shown to be ineffective during an era when the crime rate was falling everywhere no matter the policing policy.
What Mr. Blow conveniently omits from his routine victimization columns is the fact that the windows are being broken by those in the Black community who make the choice to destroy instead of building their lives.
I am a Black man, an attorney in Washington DC. My father had the equivalent of a 4th grade education, drove a school bus and worked as a janitor. My mother never finished high school, earned her GED later in life and never went to college. We were a poor family.
I made it. Whether it be college, law school or in my career. I never, ever had the color of my skin keep me from achieving any goal. Mr. Blow, an Obama sycophant advances a narrative that when things go badly wrong in Black communities, a White person is to blame, usually a White Republican or Obama critic.
Baltimore is an example of why Mr. Blow is wrong. The high profile mayor and the dangerously unaccomplished, inexperienced publicity seeking city's attorney are both Black women. Clearly in charge. Yet crime is spiking there. In predominately Black areas.
At some point it has to become about personal accountability. Or we all lose, regardless of color.
I am a Black man, an attorney in Washington DC. My father had the equivalent of a 4th grade education, drove a school bus and worked as a janitor. My mother never finished high school, earned her GED later in life and never went to college. We were a poor family.
I made it. Whether it be college, law school or in my career. I never, ever had the color of my skin keep me from achieving any goal. Mr. Blow, an Obama sycophant advances a narrative that when things go badly wrong in Black communities, a White person is to blame, usually a White Republican or Obama critic.
Baltimore is an example of why Mr. Blow is wrong. The high profile mayor and the dangerously unaccomplished, inexperienced publicity seeking city's attorney are both Black women. Clearly in charge. Yet crime is spiking there. In predominately Black areas.
At some point it has to become about personal accountability. Or we all lose, regardless of color.
54
Personal accountability? Brilliant. And I am in no way being sarcastic. If more people argued from this standpoint instead of all these generalities, lumping disparate situations into one, we might actually make some progress on this issue. Thank you for injecting some sanity into this discussion.
1
According to Mr. Blow the police aren't capable of doing anything right. They're either overreaching or being derelict. I think the police reaction to this accusation is correct: give us a call after the crime has taken place and we'll send a unit out.
5
Some commenters think that this column asks "too much" of police, or seeks a perfect world. Others feel that the gritty world of criminals must be addressed by an equally gritty hand of law enforcement. Still others don't want to see the institutional racism that has seeped into many police departments.
But simply take a look at national crime statistics and the various journals written by our criminal justice experts and you will see much of what is said in this column is supported by studies and data, often written by former police officers.
All crime nationally and in New York is down, and down dramatically. There are disagreements as to why there has been such a steady decline since usually crime rates ebb and flow with changes in economic conditions. But those correlation's haven't occurred during this period of decline.
But one thing stands out that this writer underscores. Cities with community policing have been just as successful in crime reduction as city's like New York that rely on "broken windows." But those community policing cities have better citizen police relations and are able to more effectively enlist citizens is crime prevention efforts. Sadly that's not the case in New York but could be, if we had more enlightened leadership in the NYPD and in City Hall.
But simply take a look at national crime statistics and the various journals written by our criminal justice experts and you will see much of what is said in this column is supported by studies and data, often written by former police officers.
All crime nationally and in New York is down, and down dramatically. There are disagreements as to why there has been such a steady decline since usually crime rates ebb and flow with changes in economic conditions. But those correlation's haven't occurred during this period of decline.
But one thing stands out that this writer underscores. Cities with community policing have been just as successful in crime reduction as city's like New York that rely on "broken windows." But those community policing cities have better citizen police relations and are able to more effectively enlist citizens is crime prevention efforts. Sadly that's not the case in New York but could be, if we had more enlightened leadership in the NYPD and in City Hall.
2
Blow accuses Mac Donald of rhetorical sleight of hand, but it is he who dances around the recent spike in crime by basically saying "well we don't know" why its happening. His denial is inevitable, as the Left always thought its police bashing and opposition to Broken Windows and other policies would be cost free. Blow and his fellow travelers are wrong: undermining the police and the policies that have been working for 20 years was obviously going to lead to an increase in crime. But while Blow's delusions are predictable, he is at least less contemptible in his views than Mayor de Blasio, who minimizes the uptick in violent crime in minority neighborhoods by saying, in effect, that its all OK, its just young black males being killed, so we are all good. I guess for the progressive left, or at least its more gentrified members, black lives only matter when the police are involved. The rest of the time, not so much.
6
If you look at actual criminal justice research, broken windows policing doesn't work - at least not the way the media likes to claim. Mr. Blow is correct about your vantage point determining your view, but the facts are the facts. It doesn't really work; more change/reform is needed.
1
Charles, when you drop the rhetoric and look coldly at the problem, what are you suggesting as a solution? No stop and frisk. OK so you now have more guns on the street. More drugs. You probably want more gun laws that white folks in decent neighborhood will dutifully obey but will be roundly ignored by hoodlums in black neighborhoods. Go after the guns you need probable cause, so you can't because that would be racist. You minimize the invasiveness of the police. So what then? More crime? Security for the low lifes that make living in dodgy neighborhoods a nightmare?
Your attitude is the same as well meaning liberals since time began. And, frankly, it is that thinking that created the mess. Maybe you should pay attention to the postings on this column from folks who have lived and worked in the neighborhoods that you are trying to help. Meanwhile, all I am getting from you is, sadly, another lost black generation.
Your attitude is the same as well meaning liberals since time began. And, frankly, it is that thinking that created the mess. Maybe you should pay attention to the postings on this column from folks who have lived and worked in the neighborhoods that you are trying to help. Meanwhile, all I am getting from you is, sadly, another lost black generation.
4
There is an important point yet to be made: Police officers take an oath. That's important. There are lots of jobs with less stringent requirements out there, the oath makes policing particularly responsible for the safety of the public. There is nothing crazy or contradictory about residents wanting police to protect them and treat them respectfully but not abusing them in the process of enforcing the law.
Awhile ago, there was a documentary that followed inner city kids as they visited suburban schools. After the visit, the kids were asked what thing made the greatest impression.
The bulk of them were amazed that kids in the visited schools could have their cell phones, purses and laptops out in plain sight, I.e the had no fear that these items would be forcibly stolen in broad daylight.
It would seem that enforcement of basic laws, I.e. broken windows. Would improve their daily life enormously. Oddly, the effected people know who the worst among them are, but are mute, due to the "no snitching culture".
They won't accept help from without, and they do nothing from within.
The bulk of them were amazed that kids in the visited schools could have their cell phones, purses and laptops out in plain sight, I.e the had no fear that these items would be forcibly stolen in broad daylight.
It would seem that enforcement of basic laws, I.e. broken windows. Would improve their daily life enormously. Oddly, the effected people know who the worst among them are, but are mute, due to the "no snitching culture".
They won't accept help from without, and they do nothing from within.
4
There's a difference between supporting the police and approving of the para-militarization of police forces, the latter an extension of the US's self-perceived role as world policeman brought home, so that the police see themselves as soldiers hunting enemies, rather than as members of the community serving and protecting all citizens in that community. Both the psychology and the instrumental physicality of para-militarization resonate well with a society that protects and serves its ultra-rich and its corporate masters. We are well on our way down that path.
2
I remember a different time. In the 50's, I grew up in a small town with a nearby all-black town. It was reasonably prosperous, and policed its own. In my town there was a black community encompassing about 10% of the population, all owned houses, and crime was non-existant. In my Postgraduate school days, I lived in a neighborhood of Black people, with only rare white people and a few Asians. Black people, again, owned nice, well-kept but modest houses and worked at government jobs or at a nearby large military base. There was no crime. There is nothing innate about Black crime.
Next, the neighborhood was condemned under urban renewal and razed in 1970. Nothing was put in its place but a Dental School and a park. The people mostly joined the diaspora to Chicago, where they couldn't buy housing, and ended up in the High-rise ghetto. There were few if any jobs. Crime rates increased as poverty rose. Cocaine began to appear in great quantity, irrestible to some as the only way out of poverty. This is the root and the cause of what has become an intractable pattern of abuse to Black people in urban areas.
Next, the neighborhood was condemned under urban renewal and razed in 1970. Nothing was put in its place but a Dental School and a park. The people mostly joined the diaspora to Chicago, where they couldn't buy housing, and ended up in the High-rise ghetto. There were few if any jobs. Crime rates increased as poverty rose. Cocaine began to appear in great quantity, irrestible to some as the only way out of poverty. This is the root and the cause of what has become an intractable pattern of abuse to Black people in urban areas.
1
"Broken windows" down - spike in violent crimes up. A corollary there, Mr. Blow perhaps? As a former New Yorker, I say let's return to the good old days when you were afraid to walk down a street.
2
There are pathologies in the white and black communities. Blow constantly hammers one of these, but doesn't acknowledge that something is also hugely amiss in large urban areas where black populations are in the majority. Believing most everyone in the neighborhood is a trustworthy, responsible angel is equally romantic. Talk about dancing around a delicate subject, Blow is also a master at it.
Police need to follow the law and so do citizens. Those who don't usually need some jail time.
Poverty is a huge concern and clearly no one has a magic wand. But unless a person has training, knowledge and skills, they won't be even potentially employable. Education, attending school, respecting teachers and doing homework, and basically being an honest, responsible person are all crucial.
Isn't it apparent that the government can't fix much of anything, that communities have to fix themselves (no mysterious outside entity or force of some sort is going to magically appear to do the job). People have to change their condition themselves, through self efforts.
Police need to follow the law and so do citizens. Those who don't usually need some jail time.
Poverty is a huge concern and clearly no one has a magic wand. But unless a person has training, knowledge and skills, they won't be even potentially employable. Education, attending school, respecting teachers and doing homework, and basically being an honest, responsible person are all crucial.
Isn't it apparent that the government can't fix much of anything, that communities have to fix themselves (no mysterious outside entity or force of some sort is going to magically appear to do the job). People have to change their condition themselves, through self efforts.
3
And non of these 'broken window' theorists consider that the increased inequality and rampant poverty of ever larger parts of society might be the real cause and reason for more crime. Besides..we stilll have not punished the criminals on Wallstreet and there you have the 'moral hazard'.
New York City can't get rid of guns because guns cross state lines. Stop and frisk didn't get rid of guns it made it clear to gun owners, including gang members, they couldn't carry them in public. That is now off the table. Gun violence is going up. Connect the dots.
Cops being corrupt and abusive doesn't mean stop and frisk wasn't effective policy in protecting Urban society from gun violence.
Until we make it near impossible for people in Urban areas to get access to guns we will see death and destruction by guns in city neighborhoods. Stop and frisk was a response to easy access to guns.
Revisionist history cuts decidedly both ways.
Cops being corrupt and abusive doesn't mean stop and frisk wasn't effective policy in protecting Urban society from gun violence.
Until we make it near impossible for people in Urban areas to get access to guns we will see death and destruction by guns in city neighborhoods. Stop and frisk was a response to easy access to guns.
Revisionist history cuts decidedly both ways.
3
Charles, the majority of the comments filed here today follow familiar formulas that I need not name. Therefore, I ask you why you continue to follow your familiar formula in designating different groups of Americans.
This sentence - "Furthermore, why is there such a racial skew in those particular kinds of force?" - is standard Charles Blow formulation, a belief that Americans are divided into genetically distinct "races".
In your next sentence - " As both The Post and The Guardian pointed out, unarmed African-Americans were more likely to be shot and killed than whites or Hispanics." Elsewhere you follow your standard formula in which "African Americans" become "blacks".
In reality, group "black" is distinguished from group "white" on the basis of color alone, surely no indicator of the genomes beneath these skins. You also view African-American as a synonym for black, but 5 minutes of reflection should suffice to convince you that this is wrong. And finally, Hispanics are so designated because each knows some Spanish, hardly a key to the genome.
Why does this matter? The short reason is that in comment after comment racist readers tell us that it is well established that the white "race" is genetically superior to the black "race".
So why don't you finally start your "conversation about race" and tell these racists that you finally understand it is no longer justifiable to write about "races", the fatal invention of racists.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
This sentence - "Furthermore, why is there such a racial skew in those particular kinds of force?" - is standard Charles Blow formulation, a belief that Americans are divided into genetically distinct "races".
In your next sentence - " As both The Post and The Guardian pointed out, unarmed African-Americans were more likely to be shot and killed than whites or Hispanics." Elsewhere you follow your standard formula in which "African Americans" become "blacks".
In reality, group "black" is distinguished from group "white" on the basis of color alone, surely no indicator of the genomes beneath these skins. You also view African-American as a synonym for black, but 5 minutes of reflection should suffice to convince you that this is wrong. And finally, Hispanics are so designated because each knows some Spanish, hardly a key to the genome.
Why does this matter? The short reason is that in comment after comment racist readers tell us that it is well established that the white "race" is genetically superior to the black "race".
So why don't you finally start your "conversation about race" and tell these racists that you finally understand it is no longer justifiable to write about "races", the fatal invention of racists.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
"So why don't you finally start your "conversation about race" and tell these racists that you finally understand it is no longer justifiable to write about "races", the fatal invention of racists."
We've had many conversations about race in the US.
I grew up in Detroit and my family, friends and neighbors experienced and increase racial violence during the golden age of the Great Society and Model Cities and the following "empowered years".
When we asked our Democratic leaders for help we were told that we were just afraid of losing control of the our city and were fearful of people who didn't look like us.
When the violence increased and we voiced louder concerns, we were told we just wanted the African-American leadership of Detroit to fail.
When crime became so bad that even the liberals had moved out of the city, we moved out and then were pointed to as examples of white flight and the cause of today's urban ills.
Now, in your dialog about race will these experiences have a voice in the discussion? You know the answer to that.
We've had many conversations about race in the US.
I grew up in Detroit and my family, friends and neighbors experienced and increase racial violence during the golden age of the Great Society and Model Cities and the following "empowered years".
When we asked our Democratic leaders for help we were told that we were just afraid of losing control of the our city and were fearful of people who didn't look like us.
When the violence increased and we voiced louder concerns, we were told we just wanted the African-American leadership of Detroit to fail.
When crime became so bad that even the liberals had moved out of the city, we moved out and then were pointed to as examples of white flight and the cause of today's urban ills.
Now, in your dialog about race will these experiences have a voice in the discussion? You know the answer to that.
1
Well it is not any "broken windows" policing that makes the difference, it is rather strict enforcement and having police very visible that encourages criminals to either move on or not do crime. When your probability of being caught goes up a lot your desire to do the deed goes down. Simple!!
2
US gun policy is public psychopathy. Nobody is "well regulated" if they think they should take the law into their own hands with guns.
1
But you're good with criminals having guns? How do you intend to regulate criminals?
1
Three days ago, the NY Times reported a significant increase in shootings and homicides involving guns in NYC, a reversal of the trend in the last few years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/nyregion/gunplay-rises-in-new-york-rev...
One thing that "broken windows" and "stop-and-frisk" policies did appear to accomplish was a reduction in unlicensed guns on the street, both by removing some and by making it riskier to carry one. Is there a causal relationship between the changes in those policies and the recent increase in gun violence? I don't know, but it's not "wild speculation" to think that there could be.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/nyregion/gunplay-rises-in-new-york-rev...
One thing that "broken windows" and "stop-and-frisk" policies did appear to accomplish was a reduction in unlicensed guns on the street, both by removing some and by making it riskier to carry one. Is there a causal relationship between the changes in those policies and the recent increase in gun violence? I don't know, but it's not "wild speculation" to think that there could be.
1
One problem with this article and responses to it is that there remains a big and basically unexplained reality -- why has violent crime dropped so steeply, so drastically, across the country for the past two decades. The recent slight uptick can't begin to reverse this trend. And while many clamor to take credit, the drop-off still hasn't really been satisfactorily explained. Mr. Blow briefly and speculatively implies that a waning of the crack epidemic may account for it. That's surely not enough.
We need to acknowledge that the sharp decrease in violent urban crime has been a salutary thing. Then we need to account for it.
We need to acknowledge that the sharp decrease in violent urban crime has been a salutary thing. Then we need to account for it.
Having read Jill Leovy's "Ghettoside", I find her argument persuasive. To quote the Times review of her work, "As Leovy sees it, the problem in a place like Watts is not only the high homicide rate, but the fact that so many people who commit murder are never punished. In the 13 years before the homicide that opens her book, she writes, 'a suspect was arrested in 38 percent of the 2,677 killings involving black male victims in the city of Los Angeles.' This lack of accountability is the primary cause, she argues, of the high homicide rate in some African-American neighborhoods: 'Where the criminal justice system fails to respond vigorously to violent injury and death,' she writes, 'homicide becomes endemic.'
There are more than 2.2 million people now confined in American prisons and jails, and yet, in her view, the criminal justice system is not only 'oppressive' but also 'inadequate.' 'Forty years after the civil rights movement, impunity for the murder of black men remained America’s great, though mostly invisible, race problem,' she writes. 'The institutions of criminal justice, so remorseless in other ways in an era of get-tough sentencing and ‘preventive’ policing' — like stop-and-frisk — 'remained feeble when it came to answering for the lives of black murder victims.'
If society offers neither justice nor protection to a community, right or wrong, individuals with take matters in their own hands. In a gun culture, that hand with bear a gun.
There are more than 2.2 million people now confined in American prisons and jails, and yet, in her view, the criminal justice system is not only 'oppressive' but also 'inadequate.' 'Forty years after the civil rights movement, impunity for the murder of black men remained America’s great, though mostly invisible, race problem,' she writes. 'The institutions of criminal justice, so remorseless in other ways in an era of get-tough sentencing and ‘preventive’ policing' — like stop-and-frisk — 'remained feeble when it came to answering for the lives of black murder victims.'
If society offers neither justice nor protection to a community, right or wrong, individuals with take matters in their own hands. In a gun culture, that hand with bear a gun.
1
this article is a typical charles blow article, a panoply of excuses for criminal behavior in the black community. it is always some outside power that is responsible for anti-social behavior. poverty is not an excuse for criminality. it is questionable even whether true poverty exists in america in the large urban areas. between food stamps, free lunch , free medical care free education and myriad benefits including free cell phones and 250 free minutes a month automatically for anyone on medicaid. there is little to complain about. while it cannot be denied that people fall between the cracks or people make poor eating choices at food pantries per article in nyt, poor people particularly the urban poor have pretty easy lives.
as to racial skew in the use of force typically charles blow has no statistics to prove his case".unarmed African-Americans were more likely to be shot and killed than whites or Hispanics" of course the numbers are not likely to be the same. the difference is never even discussed. for all anybody knows from this article the difference could be minute to the point of being statistically insignificant.
as to racial skew in the use of force typically charles blow has no statistics to prove his case".unarmed African-Americans were more likely to be shot and killed than whites or Hispanics" of course the numbers are not likely to be the same. the difference is never even discussed. for all anybody knows from this article the difference could be minute to the point of being statistically insignificant.
6
Stop and Frisk. Broken Windows. Police tactics.
Tracey Meares wrote a legal essay for the Chicago Law Review titled "Understanding the Constitutionality of Stop & Frisk as a program." It is worth reading.
Ms Meares tackles one of the age old dilemmas within democracies such as our own; eg how to achieve a reasonable balance between liberty and order.
Her central thesis is that the Supreme Court has ruled on individual instances of S&F and have deemed them constitutional. However, the programmatic aspects of the NYC S&F were fundamentally different and potentially more pernicious. She argues her points well.
Tracey Meares wrote a legal essay for the Chicago Law Review titled "Understanding the Constitutionality of Stop & Frisk as a program." It is worth reading.
Ms Meares tackles one of the age old dilemmas within democracies such as our own; eg how to achieve a reasonable balance between liberty and order.
Her central thesis is that the Supreme Court has ruled on individual instances of S&F and have deemed them constitutional. However, the programmatic aspects of the NYC S&F were fundamentally different and potentially more pernicious. She argues her points well.
I think that Blow here engages in a tough dance in defending the incorrectness of "broken window" theory in the face of the data that contradicts the established liberal notion that "broken windows" is incorrect.
Blow carefully unwinds a rhetorical argument without giving any data, not forgetting to set up the typical "racist" traps. I.e. if we read his argument about urban reclamation, he tries to bait the reader into believing that it is about reclaiming cities from blacks, while in reality it was about reclaiming the cities from gangs. He tries to create an argument that the recent spike in murders in Baltimore is caused by police deliberately sitting on their hands rather than putting their lives at risk, without providing any evidence that police could have realistically prevented any of these murderers or at least present at the scene - afterall, most of the murders take place when police is not there, and when it can't arrive in reasonable time to begin with.
I hate to say, but you either buy this argument because you want to buy this argument, or you don't buy it. This looks so similar to the morally bankrupt attempts to explain mortgage crisis by loose lending standards to "the low income" that I really start to think that reality has a conservative bias now.
Blow carefully unwinds a rhetorical argument without giving any data, not forgetting to set up the typical "racist" traps. I.e. if we read his argument about urban reclamation, he tries to bait the reader into believing that it is about reclaiming cities from blacks, while in reality it was about reclaiming the cities from gangs. He tries to create an argument that the recent spike in murders in Baltimore is caused by police deliberately sitting on their hands rather than putting their lives at risk, without providing any evidence that police could have realistically prevented any of these murderers or at least present at the scene - afterall, most of the murders take place when police is not there, and when it can't arrive in reasonable time to begin with.
I hate to say, but you either buy this argument because you want to buy this argument, or you don't buy it. This looks so similar to the morally bankrupt attempts to explain mortgage crisis by loose lending standards to "the low income" that I really start to think that reality has a conservative bias now.
9
In 1770 British Captain Thomas Preston was serving in the Massachusetts Bay Colony where there had been much unrest, demonstrations and criminal acts against the British and their representatives. On March 5, 1770 there was an ugly confrontation between unarmed protesting colonists and men under Captain Preston’s command. For reasons unclear, the British soldiers opened fire on the protesters and five men were killed or died later from their wounds. One of them was Crispus Attucks, an African American.
Those killings were popularly described as the “Boston Massacre” for which Captain Preston was tried for murder and acquitted. The outrage triggered by the killings gave impetus to the coming revolution and American independence. In fact, the “Boston Massacre” was contextually described by Daniel Webster with these words: “From that moment we may date the severance of the British Empire.”
It seems that acquittal of an authority figure accused of murdering an unarmed African American (and others) isn’t new to our country. Let’s pray that it doesn’t take another “revolution” and a socioeconomic or racial “severance” in our country to solve our current problems between authority figures and protesters.
Those killings were popularly described as the “Boston Massacre” for which Captain Preston was tried for murder and acquitted. The outrage triggered by the killings gave impetus to the coming revolution and American independence. In fact, the “Boston Massacre” was contextually described by Daniel Webster with these words: “From that moment we may date the severance of the British Empire.”
It seems that acquittal of an authority figure accused of murdering an unarmed African American (and others) isn’t new to our country. Let’s pray that it doesn’t take another “revolution” and a socioeconomic or racial “severance” in our country to solve our current problems between authority figures and protesters.
1
"A Southern Bro" writes that " For reasons unclear, the British soldiers opened fire on the protesters." Actually, the reasons were pretty clear: the British soldiers were surrounded by a rock-throwing mob, and feared for their lives. That is a far cry from shooting a Black man in the back from almost point-blank range; or shooting a 12-year old child from inches away; or strangling to death a Black man who was doing nothing more threatening than selling individual cigarettes.
Big difference.
Big difference.
"As the Manhattan Institute’s Heather Mac Donald put it ...(Wall St. Journal):
The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months.” ... and Mr. Blow continues, saying:
"Actually, “most plausible” is simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything. And, it seems to me that this has the effect, intentional or not, of conflating protests with criminality, ..."
But let's apply common sense here. There has been a lot of crime done in recent protests. Thousands of businesses have been burned down. And all those thousands of buildings didn't all have insurance coverage. And someone is having to pay for the rebuilding, even if it is ever done.
And most of those business-owners were not blacks, who were hurt.
If the grievances are with the police, what justification is there for these crimes against people of any other race than that of the perpetrators?
This amounts to the very sort of hate crime that protestors accuse the police of. And there is, in Mr. Blow's own words: " simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything", as to the allegations against any police misconduct anyway. These protests seemed actually, by Mr. Blow's own kind of argument, to have had no basis.
The police have a very hard job knowing anymore how to control even usual crime, let alone this spurt of crime brought on by recent protests.
The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months.” ... and Mr. Blow continues, saying:
"Actually, “most plausible” is simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything. And, it seems to me that this has the effect, intentional or not, of conflating protests with criminality, ..."
But let's apply common sense here. There has been a lot of crime done in recent protests. Thousands of businesses have been burned down. And all those thousands of buildings didn't all have insurance coverage. And someone is having to pay for the rebuilding, even if it is ever done.
And most of those business-owners were not blacks, who were hurt.
If the grievances are with the police, what justification is there for these crimes against people of any other race than that of the perpetrators?
This amounts to the very sort of hate crime that protestors accuse the police of. And there is, in Mr. Blow's own words: " simply theoretical argumentation and not corollary proof of anything", as to the allegations against any police misconduct anyway. These protests seemed actually, by Mr. Blow's own kind of argument, to have had no basis.
The police have a very hard job knowing anymore how to control even usual crime, let alone this spurt of crime brought on by recent protests.
7
I feel it is a case of cruel and willful ignorance to call a policy of rousting poor people of color in New York's ghettoes "broken windows" policing when those same broken windows have clearly been shown (by scholars like Richard Rothstein) to be the product of a confluence of discriminatory housing policies at the federal, state, and local levels dating back to the end of World War II.
1
A few points:
1. the jury is still out on the connection, if any or to what extent, between "broken window" policing and the drop in crime in NYC an other places. In "Freakonomics," the authors attribute the drop in crime across the nation to abortions and, more importantly, longer prison terms. Yet, shoes-on-the-ground community policing tends to be effective, too.
2. You mention police serving taxpayers as opposed to criminals. Not to be too blunt, but in some of the worst neighborhoods where the shootings are most frequent, and the shooters and victims are both of color, I'd venture to guess that a minority are actually taxpayers. This does not mean they have no rights, or that the police are not there to serve them (they are, because they are citizens), but let's be honest.
3. you leave out the responsibility of the community for contributing to its own safety. This means not keeping quiet when you know a neighbor's son is dealing drugs or illegally carrying around a gun. Or keeping quiet about who shot who the night before in retaliation for the shooting the week before that. Or how about raising one's kids not to be criminals? (and this goes for everyone and anyone, regardless of color or whether the criminal is street level or "white collar").
4. Not all minorities in minority neighborhoods were against stop-and-frisk. Why? Because it undeniably yielded a large quantity of guns and got the gun carriers off the street.
1. the jury is still out on the connection, if any or to what extent, between "broken window" policing and the drop in crime in NYC an other places. In "Freakonomics," the authors attribute the drop in crime across the nation to abortions and, more importantly, longer prison terms. Yet, shoes-on-the-ground community policing tends to be effective, too.
2. You mention police serving taxpayers as opposed to criminals. Not to be too blunt, but in some of the worst neighborhoods where the shootings are most frequent, and the shooters and victims are both of color, I'd venture to guess that a minority are actually taxpayers. This does not mean they have no rights, or that the police are not there to serve them (they are, because they are citizens), but let's be honest.
3. you leave out the responsibility of the community for contributing to its own safety. This means not keeping quiet when you know a neighbor's son is dealing drugs or illegally carrying around a gun. Or keeping quiet about who shot who the night before in retaliation for the shooting the week before that. Or how about raising one's kids not to be criminals? (and this goes for everyone and anyone, regardless of color or whether the criminal is street level or "white collar").
4. Not all minorities in minority neighborhoods were against stop-and-frisk. Why? Because it undeniably yielded a large quantity of guns and got the gun carriers off the street.
8
I will never understand how Blacks tolerate the high crime rates in their neighborhoods.
Where is the outrage?
Why don't they create their own neighborhood watch to protect their own?
If they didn't have all these crimes occurring they would have no need for so many police in their midst.
Where is the outrage?
Why don't they create their own neighborhood watch to protect their own?
If they didn't have all these crimes occurring they would have no need for so many police in their midst.
16
"What is almost never mentioned as contributing to criminality is the intersection of violence with concentrated poverty "
What is never mentioned: the intersection of violence, poverty, and teenage pregnancy and no fathers or family. I would like to see Mr. Blow talk about that.
If you want to address poverty, if you want to offer jobs, then the population must have at least a high school education.
The poverty is no longer the result of racism, the victim card just does not play any more. The black community must start to take some responsibility.
Address the core of the problem, admit that the saying :"no justice, no peace" is an excuse for and encouragement for looting and rioting.
I promise you, there are large areas of Baltimore where Mr. Blow would not go at night.!
What is never mentioned: the intersection of violence, poverty, and teenage pregnancy and no fathers or family. I would like to see Mr. Blow talk about that.
If you want to address poverty, if you want to offer jobs, then the population must have at least a high school education.
The poverty is no longer the result of racism, the victim card just does not play any more. The black community must start to take some responsibility.
Address the core of the problem, admit that the saying :"no justice, no peace" is an excuse for and encouragement for looting and rioting.
I promise you, there are large areas of Baltimore where Mr. Blow would not go at night.!
13
I'm torn about stop-and-frisk. On one hand, according to latest statistics by the NY ACLU, hundreds of thousands of innocent people were stopped and frisked. But tens of thousands were also found with illegal weapons and hard drugs. I'm also undecided about "broken windows" policing. But who isn't who remembers NYC in the '70s and early 80s?
7
Elites like Mr. Blow pay no price defending left-wing theories as the bodies of the less fortunate pile up.
The rest of us shrug. We used to care, but if someone like Mr. Blow doesn't care, why should we?
Let the chips fall where they may.
The rest of us shrug. We used to care, but if someone like Mr. Blow doesn't care, why should we?
Let the chips fall where they may.
10
"First, I think it is actually a good thing for officers of the law not to assume that they will be above it. Each of us, including officers, should consider our actions, particularly use of force, before engaging."
This seems a no-brainer until you look at the data. In the recent killing of a terrorist suspect in Boston, the police followed protocol to a T, retreating before making the decision to shoot or be slain by the guy's knife. But it's what happened next that made the situation quite remarkable: they showed the video of the event to the Islamic clergy where the slain man worked.
In other words, the Boston PD has a close ear to the needs of the community they serve.
Would that were so in every urban area. The knee-jerk call to return to the very policies that created such distrust and animosity among poor black residents of dangerous areas seems, to me, the very last solution one would call for.
Problem is, a lot of folks just want the problem of police-citizen dynamics to go away. "Broken Windows" was a good idea until it wasn't. Using the distance of time and memory to restore a tools that, historically, helped create the mess we're in, is simply a bad idea.
This seems a no-brainer until you look at the data. In the recent killing of a terrorist suspect in Boston, the police followed protocol to a T, retreating before making the decision to shoot or be slain by the guy's knife. But it's what happened next that made the situation quite remarkable: they showed the video of the event to the Islamic clergy where the slain man worked.
In other words, the Boston PD has a close ear to the needs of the community they serve.
Would that were so in every urban area. The knee-jerk call to return to the very policies that created such distrust and animosity among poor black residents of dangerous areas seems, to me, the very last solution one would call for.
Problem is, a lot of folks just want the problem of police-citizen dynamics to go away. "Broken Windows" was a good idea until it wasn't. Using the distance of time and memory to restore a tools that, historically, helped create the mess we're in, is simply a bad idea.
4
Conservatives who decry spike in violent crimes are also the ones who support liberal gun laws that make it possible for criminals to commit violent crimes.
There will be no need to "stop and frisk" if concealable weapons are not available to the public at large. Don't make guns widely available and then wonder why there is a whole lot of shooting going on.
There will be no need to "stop and frisk" if concealable weapons are not available to the public at large. Don't make guns widely available and then wonder why there is a whole lot of shooting going on.
1
Chicago has strict gun laws and alarmingly high rates of handgun death.
Cocaine, Meth, heroin are illegal substances however criminals seem to always obtain what they need.
If guns were outlawed same thing would happen.
If guns were outlawed same thing would happen.
Your first mistake is making it seem that broken windows and stop and frisk are the same thing. However I am more appalled at some of your other suggestions. As a black male who grew up "in the hood" - this is terribly slanted writing. There is a reason most black people like myself leave the hood once they become professionals. Why? They don't want to be prey for criminals! I never heard any say "I want to get out of here because I worry about the cops". Never!
For you to insinuate the criminals don't know how to "take the temperature on the street" is so terrible I can't say what I want to say. Whether it's drug dealers in a lobby who get bold because no one called the cops. Guys I grew up around would fire shorts in the air in one place to get police to o one way - while they committed a robbery in another. You could go to a further extreme across the country where police who back away from a corner of unruly criminals on Florence and Normandy causing the LA riots. Criminals know how to operate. Take away drug sniffing dogs at the airport and by next month the price of cocaine will drop as flights will be flooded with it.
I could go on and on. This is not Mayberry - please stop embarrassing sensible black people. If "black lives matter" WE would police ourselves!!!
For you to insinuate the criminals don't know how to "take the temperature on the street" is so terrible I can't say what I want to say. Whether it's drug dealers in a lobby who get bold because no one called the cops. Guys I grew up around would fire shorts in the air in one place to get police to o one way - while they committed a robbery in another. You could go to a further extreme across the country where police who back away from a corner of unruly criminals on Florence and Normandy causing the LA riots. Criminals know how to operate. Take away drug sniffing dogs at the airport and by next month the price of cocaine will drop as flights will be flooded with it.
I could go on and on. This is not Mayberry - please stop embarrassing sensible black people. If "black lives matter" WE would police ourselves!!!
187
Really? On the black African American South Side of Chicago of my child and teen youth and my senior citizen aged safe suburban grand father the criminal thugs who harassed and terrorized my people wore cop blue and thug red, blue and brown with a rainbow of human colored skins. The majority of innocent black civilians were caught between an anvil and hammer of corrupt silent cops and criminal no snitching thugs. A feared legendary black gang godfather was my youthful protector against both types of thugs. Gang atomization has eliminated his stable type of hand.
Incompetent bigoted cops are mislead by incompetent corrupt cynical black mayors and police chiefs in Cleveland, Baltimore and Philadelphia. The black guy in the White House and his black Attorney General have judged and condemned alleged unique innate black pathology while excusing and explaining white pathology and criminality. Most crime is intra-racial socioeconomic political and educational. What about the problem of white on white crime?
Who is "we"?
With 90+ % of blacks voting Democrat in every POTUS election since 1964 the Sharpton's, Jackson's, Wright's, Coates, Dyson's, Smiley's and Martins speak for and to more black folks than allegedly "sensible" Negroes like you and the likes of Herman Cain, Clarence Thomas, Shelby Steele, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Alan Keyes, Ben Carson, Tim Scott, Condi Rice, Don Lemon, Juan Williams and Jason Riley.
Incompetent bigoted cops are mislead by incompetent corrupt cynical black mayors and police chiefs in Cleveland, Baltimore and Philadelphia. The black guy in the White House and his black Attorney General have judged and condemned alleged unique innate black pathology while excusing and explaining white pathology and criminality. Most crime is intra-racial socioeconomic political and educational. What about the problem of white on white crime?
Who is "we"?
With 90+ % of blacks voting Democrat in every POTUS election since 1964 the Sharpton's, Jackson's, Wright's, Coates, Dyson's, Smiley's and Martins speak for and to more black folks than allegedly "sensible" Negroes like you and the likes of Herman Cain, Clarence Thomas, Shelby Steele, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Alan Keyes, Ben Carson, Tim Scott, Condi Rice, Don Lemon, Juan Williams and Jason Riley.
Most people agree that effective policing depends on community cooperation. That means that law abiding members of the community trust the police, call them when needed, and cooperate in their investigations of crime.
The much bragged about 'broken windows" practice of policing relies on hassling people, 90% of whom never broke the law. The worst and most offensive practice, "stop and frisk." is humiliating and when certain age and racial groups are targeted, which is most of the time, illegal. Detaining and arresting people for minor offenses enrages the public and often results in the unnecessary incarceration of poor people who cannot afford bail, much less a lawyer.
The result is trying to police a community that mistrusts and resents the police whose mission is to "serve and protect." The antagonism that "broken windows" policing generates among the public leads to the fear that many members of the force have when they enter hostile communities. The result is the misjudgement or rage on both sides that inevitably leads to the use of excessive police force.
Crime statistics may be useful but establishing cause for the ups and downs is risky. The drop or increase in crime may have many different social, psychological, chemical and economic causes. Trying to reduce crime by mistreating the public is wrong even if the statistics suggests, merely suggests, that it works.
The much bragged about 'broken windows" practice of policing relies on hassling people, 90% of whom never broke the law. The worst and most offensive practice, "stop and frisk." is humiliating and when certain age and racial groups are targeted, which is most of the time, illegal. Detaining and arresting people for minor offenses enrages the public and often results in the unnecessary incarceration of poor people who cannot afford bail, much less a lawyer.
The result is trying to police a community that mistrusts and resents the police whose mission is to "serve and protect." The antagonism that "broken windows" policing generates among the public leads to the fear that many members of the force have when they enter hostile communities. The result is the misjudgement or rage on both sides that inevitably leads to the use of excessive police force.
Crime statistics may be useful but establishing cause for the ups and downs is risky. The drop or increase in crime may have many different social, psychological, chemical and economic causes. Trying to reduce crime by mistreating the public is wrong even if the statistics suggests, merely suggests, that it works.
1
The guys in the offices take accumulated wealth and destroy lives.
The guys on the street take lives and destroy accumulated wealth.
Who do you think the cops are going to chase?
The guys on the street take lives and destroy accumulated wealth.
Who do you think the cops are going to chase?
1
Mr. Blow - once again - obfuscates by creating a monolith called the Black community:
"“Urban reclamation.” From whom for whom? “Proactive policing.” "
The obvious answer being that evil-minded white folks are keeping the man down.
Well no - it is reclaiming Black communities for the vast majority of Black community members who are sick and tired of a small minority of young Black men who murder and rob their own communities over 90% of the time.
Mr. Blow could play a leadership role in reclaiming black communities for peaceful hardworking black community members - he willfully chooses not to.
"“Urban reclamation.” From whom for whom? “Proactive policing.” "
The obvious answer being that evil-minded white folks are keeping the man down.
Well no - it is reclaiming Black communities for the vast majority of Black community members who are sick and tired of a small minority of young Black men who murder and rob their own communities over 90% of the time.
Mr. Blow could play a leadership role in reclaiming black communities for peaceful hardworking black community members - he willfully chooses not to.
15
The numbers of black children being raised in single-parent families has hovered around 65%-67% for at least a decade. More recent numbers show the percentage today is actually on the rise. When the head of those single-parent families is a woman, they also have the highest poverty rate in this country--about 31%.
Statistics also show that children who spend time in a single-parent family, especially while in their teen years, don't complete as many years of schooling as children in two-parent families. By the time they are 24 years old, most have only a high school education (if that) while their two-parent family counterparts have completed two more years of schooling.
These statistics may not explain everything about violence and poverty in the black community, and you can dismiss these points as a "racial pathology argument." But if poverty in your view is the driver of violence in the black community, then it also appears the same can be said for unwed motherhood and lack of education.
Based on stories appearing in this paper, there also appears to be a dearth of so-called "husband material" in the black community, and this has been related to the high percentage of black men between the ages of 18-25 who have been, are, or will be incarcerated at some point in time. If we are going to make progress on this complex of social issues, one thing unwed black women should consider is postponing child bearing.
Statistics also show that children who spend time in a single-parent family, especially while in their teen years, don't complete as many years of schooling as children in two-parent families. By the time they are 24 years old, most have only a high school education (if that) while their two-parent family counterparts have completed two more years of schooling.
These statistics may not explain everything about violence and poverty in the black community, and you can dismiss these points as a "racial pathology argument." But if poverty in your view is the driver of violence in the black community, then it also appears the same can be said for unwed motherhood and lack of education.
Based on stories appearing in this paper, there also appears to be a dearth of so-called "husband material" in the black community, and this has been related to the high percentage of black men between the ages of 18-25 who have been, are, or will be incarcerated at some point in time. If we are going to make progress on this complex of social issues, one thing unwed black women should consider is postponing child bearing.
9
I try not to oversell or be overly insistent, but I believe this thought provoking and well done piece from Mother Jones is a must read.
It's about the correlation between lead removal and significantly lower crime rates and these lower rates were across the board, even in cities that didn't embrace the 'Broken Windows' approach.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline
It's a real eye opener.
It's about the correlation between lead removal and significantly lower crime rates and these lower rates were across the board, even in cities that didn't embrace the 'Broken Windows' approach.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline
It's a real eye opener.
Paul,
I suppose we can conclude there has been an uptick in lead pollution in Baltimore and a few other cities recently.
Also we can conclude that the Japanese, whose industrial development broadly mirrored our own, must have some sort of native immunity to lead pollution, as their violent crime rates do not correlate with their historical lead pollution exposure levels.
Finally, the drop in violent crime rates seen the Drum story EXCLUDE murder rates. Odd, as I personally find murder to be violent.
I suppose we can conclude there has been an uptick in lead pollution in Baltimore and a few other cities recently.
Also we can conclude that the Japanese, whose industrial development broadly mirrored our own, must have some sort of native immunity to lead pollution, as their violent crime rates do not correlate with their historical lead pollution exposure levels.
Finally, the drop in violent crime rates seen the Drum story EXCLUDE murder rates. Odd, as I personally find murder to be violent.
Mr. Blow notes that only a handful of cases where police killed someone have generated protests, implying that only egregious use of force by police is being criticized. That is true, but it also means that egregious use of force by police is relatively rare.
Also, the criticism of "broken windows" policing Mr. Blow references was from last July. He neglects to note that since Mayor DeBlasio cut back on stop and frisk, murders in NYC are up 20% in 2015 over last year. Maybe broken windows policing and stop and frisk really do work.
Also, the criticism of "broken windows" policing Mr. Blow references was from last July. He neglects to note that since Mayor DeBlasio cut back on stop and frisk, murders in NYC are up 20% in 2015 over last year. Maybe broken windows policing and stop and frisk really do work.
9
The writer dismisses the theory that officers are now reluctant to do their jobs, but offers no other plausible explanation for the sharp increase in violence. The left has never accepted the notion that effective policing reduces crime. We must deal with "root causes", they tell us. But has there been a sharp increase in the poverty that supposedly causes crime?
5
I could liken the "Broken Windows" theory that the perception of decay attracts more criminality. It would be comparable to the idea that the White House can no longer be viewed as a legitimate institution if there is graffiti scrawled over its veneer, drug dealing, shooting dice or disorderly conduct tolerated on the grassy lawns. Even though is still a highly efficent team of professional conducted business inside the White House, the public perception would be of tawdy corruption.
Similarly, if small businesses or public institutions are allowed to be "tagged" with graffiti by gangsters or broken windows allowed to persist in what were once "good neighborhoods," there is a tendency for individuals to tacitly believe that it is a "bad neighborhood" & thus avoid. Akin to the "slippery slope" theory that a child trying marijuana may lead to far more dangerous drugs down the line as a natural occurrence. The real issue is why so many machismo men who lack an education are displaced by modern society & left out of the collective economic pie. Instead of finding a nurturing job as a waitress, beautician or home health care aide which require no education, the school drop-out achieves his manhood by picking up a gun, drug dealing, hanging out on the corner or challenging police to games of cat & mouse. I would imagine most urban people of color w/ high incomes encounter little of the police brutality that the cycle of poverty & hyper masculinity inner city drop-out does.
Similarly, if small businesses or public institutions are allowed to be "tagged" with graffiti by gangsters or broken windows allowed to persist in what were once "good neighborhoods," there is a tendency for individuals to tacitly believe that it is a "bad neighborhood" & thus avoid. Akin to the "slippery slope" theory that a child trying marijuana may lead to far more dangerous drugs down the line as a natural occurrence. The real issue is why so many machismo men who lack an education are displaced by modern society & left out of the collective economic pie. Instead of finding a nurturing job as a waitress, beautician or home health care aide which require no education, the school drop-out achieves his manhood by picking up a gun, drug dealing, hanging out on the corner or challenging police to games of cat & mouse. I would imagine most urban people of color w/ high incomes encounter little of the police brutality that the cycle of poverty & hyper masculinity inner city drop-out does.
5
Add to the racial component of any discussion of police actions and public protests, the fact that there are more guns in America now than there are Americans. The NRA has manipulated way too many people into believing that having a gun means freedom, or power, or whatever mind trip of the week they are pushing. So, more people have and use guns than ever. Does a cop know who has a gun and who doesn't? Probably not. They don't want to be shot either, and they are facing the presence of a larger militia mentality than ever before, thanks to the NRA. This all plays into more Americans feeling insecure enough to buy more guns. Insecurity, guns, police, prejudice, poverty, anger? Of course there's more violence.
The militia mentality and the obsession with guns surely plays into this scenario, but how much we won't know until the laws prohibiting research into gun violence (thanks again to the NRA) are overturned.
The militia mentality and the obsession with guns surely plays into this scenario, but how much we won't know until the laws prohibiting research into gun violence (thanks again to the NRA) are overturned.
1
If, "all the cops are criminals and all the sinners saints," as the comments here seem to be saying, maybe we are living the exaggerated dystopia depicted and sustained in our violence soaked, gun and explosion loving popular culture. The problem with living in a free and democratic society is we get the society we embrace or allow by our disillusionment or barely contained rage. Perhaps if we spent more time fixing broken people, criminal and saintly, instead of incarcerating those who are breaking windows, we would have fewer broken windows; casting the first stone comes to mind for some reason...
Mr. Blow is always at his best when blowing the horn of grievance but never shows up with a workable solution. He is like a fire warden who reports fires but doesn't lend a hand in putting them out.
13
I'm sick of reading articles about the police, the "system", etc. Why are heavily black cities so violent? Who will help the situation? And who will finally decide that all black lives do matter, because there is an epidemic of murder among black men, and it isn't from the cops.
7
Amen to that. No group, looking outside of itself, will ever prevail in improving its situation. I don't doubt there is inward reflection, but we don't hear enough about that and there is hardly any outrage.
Mr Blow is right about simplistic policing strategies. I'm reading "Don't Shoot," by David Kennedy, which is about reducing violence in inner city neighborhoods, written in a few years ago. So, it's about Baltimore, but written before Baltimore happened. Mr. Kennedy has spent years with the gang members, the police, and government officials and finds that each group views the others fictionally: his strategy involves intense coordination between federal and local authorities, focused and vigorous law enforcement, which is aimed gang-by-gany, and thus gains credibility, targeting provision of social services to those gang members; with many other aspects. The system works where it has been tried. Mr. Kennedy is clear that stop-and-frisk policies make things worse, by creating mistrust between the community and the police. He also dismisses the "broken window theory," I think his argument is that Commission Bratton's successful policy was far more complicated than portrayed. I can't recommend this book enough.
Mr. Blow, you began to write in the NYT with thoughtful empirical articles. Now, you are cherry-picking an empirically unsubstantiated sentence from a dubious "authority" and promoting it as the most plausible explanation of the spike in homicide rates - mainly in predominantly black neighbourhoods.
Later you say that there have been protests over "perceived" use of excessive force, and then suggest that if police have restrained themselves from performing their duties they are guilty or dereliction of duty. You seem to want to have it both ways. Somehow the violence that is sadly a way of life in these neighbouhoods, and the people who commit such violence, are not the problem. The problem is the police who, if they patrol areas in which their lives are in constant danger are open to perceptions of using excessive force when protecting themselves, but who are also derided for not demonstrating sufficiently pro-active policing - although they will be risking prosecution if they do so.
Why, Mr. Blow, aren't you focusing on the real issue, the prevalence of violent behaviour in certain neighbouhoods, largely by people who live in them. In reality, your claims advocate a situation in which criminal activity is allowed to be the norm, e.g., breaking windows, etc., with impunity, and often escalating into inter-personal violence as perpetrators push the envelope.
You should be demanding that the self-promoting black "leaders" advocate for real, basic solutions.
Later you say that there have been protests over "perceived" use of excessive force, and then suggest that if police have restrained themselves from performing their duties they are guilty or dereliction of duty. You seem to want to have it both ways. Somehow the violence that is sadly a way of life in these neighbouhoods, and the people who commit such violence, are not the problem. The problem is the police who, if they patrol areas in which their lives are in constant danger are open to perceptions of using excessive force when protecting themselves, but who are also derided for not demonstrating sufficiently pro-active policing - although they will be risking prosecution if they do so.
Why, Mr. Blow, aren't you focusing on the real issue, the prevalence of violent behaviour in certain neighbouhoods, largely by people who live in them. In reality, your claims advocate a situation in which criminal activity is allowed to be the norm, e.g., breaking windows, etc., with impunity, and often escalating into inter-personal violence as perpetrators push the envelope.
You should be demanding that the self-promoting black "leaders" advocate for real, basic solutions.
5
Actually, I haven't yet read suggestions that diminished "police bashing" is causing the uptick of violence with guns in our major cities, notably New York City; or even claims that de-emphasizing "broken windows" generally is the cause ... at least not yet. What I HAVE read is a suggestion that we should have fixed "stop-and-frisk" instead of killing it, because with the fear of being found with an unlicensed weapon now largely gone, there are more weapons and where there are more weapons eventually there will be more violence. And that violence is happening disproportionately in our minority communities.
We're early enough in seeing this phenomenon of increased violence in our cities for Charles to demonize such suggestions and get away with it. But if the trend entrenches itself and particularly if it intensifies, Bill de Blasio will have a lot of 'splainin to do to the voters come re-election time. And he'll be making his excuses to NYC's blacks, who are the ones being killed in greater numbers.
Reforming police forces so that they don't employ excessive force, against blacks or anyone else, is clearly necessary. But that's not the same as searching for guns in neighborhoods where a lot of people pack heat when they're less afraid of being caught with it.
We're early enough in seeing this phenomenon of increased violence in our cities for Charles to demonize such suggestions and get away with it. But if the trend entrenches itself and particularly if it intensifies, Bill de Blasio will have a lot of 'splainin to do to the voters come re-election time. And he'll be making his excuses to NYC's blacks, who are the ones being killed in greater numbers.
Reforming police forces so that they don't employ excessive force, against blacks or anyone else, is clearly necessary. But that's not the same as searching for guns in neighborhoods where a lot of people pack heat when they're less afraid of being caught with it.
4
It's great you want to have a fact based discussion on race, economics and crime. Let's ponder the following facts:
-what demographic commits 70+% of violent crimes such as murders, armed robberies... in NYC? And a disproportionate amount nation wide?
-what demographic graduates high school in four years at a whopping rate of 57%?
-what demographic leaves children fatherless at rate of 70+%?
We need discuss the facts you said are necessary to have an intelligent conversation. After spending trillions of dollars to help the poor we have essentially gone nowhere, once you factor in the expansion of the Welfare State. It's not the zip code you're born into that counts most, it's the home in which you are raised. So until people take responsibilty for their actions they will continue to founder. The moral equivocators and let's "not hurt anybody's feelings" crowd are doing a great disservice to the people want to help. We need to face the facts we have a permanent underclass that repeats the same mistakes generation after generation and draw up an intelligent plan to address poverty. Spending more money doing the same thing is insanity.
-what demographic commits 70+% of violent crimes such as murders, armed robberies... in NYC? And a disproportionate amount nation wide?
-what demographic graduates high school in four years at a whopping rate of 57%?
-what demographic leaves children fatherless at rate of 70+%?
We need discuss the facts you said are necessary to have an intelligent conversation. After spending trillions of dollars to help the poor we have essentially gone nowhere, once you factor in the expansion of the Welfare State. It's not the zip code you're born into that counts most, it's the home in which you are raised. So until people take responsibilty for their actions they will continue to founder. The moral equivocators and let's "not hurt anybody's feelings" crowd are doing a great disservice to the people want to help. We need to face the facts we have a permanent underclass that repeats the same mistakes generation after generation and draw up an intelligent plan to address poverty. Spending more money doing the same thing is insanity.
6
I remember taking criminology in college and two things I remember. The causes of crime are complicated and unclear. The police don't cause crime so it is unreasonable to expect them to end it.
One thing seems clear, The advent of the broken windows theory of policing ended the practice of looking the other way because criminals were often Black. Crime had taken over too many parts of New York and other major cities. Murder rates were frightening and embarrassing. The Left for the most part was willing to let it continue until "society" was reformed. Fortunately the crack epidemic receded, the number of young men declined and police departments increased their activity.
One thing seems clear, The advent of the broken windows theory of policing ended the practice of looking the other way because criminals were often Black. Crime had taken over too many parts of New York and other major cities. Murder rates were frightening and embarrassing. The Left for the most part was willing to let it continue until "society" was reformed. Fortunately the crack epidemic receded, the number of young men declined and police departments increased their activity.
4
Living in one of the most conservative cities with a terrible race record, after the 2001 Cincinnati race riots, downtown is now attracting businesses and investing in a fully developed riverfront. However, the economic cost of a full on race riot to the city was catastrophic. It took many years to rebuild our city center.
Have race relations improved? No. Police are catching on. Why even bother policing rough, African American inhabited areas? Any wise Mayor is telling their police force: our city doesn't want a riot, send the squads elsewhere.
So now violent communities must reap what they sow. I was almost carjacked when a young African American tried to break into my BMW at a red light last Sunday; however, without a police presence, one has to rely on street smarts, and hope the confrontation does not escalate to lethal force via concealed carry.
I cannot blame the police force for its absence in such an area, however, and did not even bother filing a complaint, because the PD probably doesn't care. People will just fend for themselves.
Welcome to the post riot America.
Have race relations improved? No. Police are catching on. Why even bother policing rough, African American inhabited areas? Any wise Mayor is telling their police force: our city doesn't want a riot, send the squads elsewhere.
So now violent communities must reap what they sow. I was almost carjacked when a young African American tried to break into my BMW at a red light last Sunday; however, without a police presence, one has to rely on street smarts, and hope the confrontation does not escalate to lethal force via concealed carry.
I cannot blame the police force for its absence in such an area, however, and did not even bother filing a complaint, because the PD probably doesn't care. People will just fend for themselves.
Welcome to the post riot America.
3
"Broken windows" policing is a euphemism for "Break the Negroes" local law enforcement. Both the war on drugs and welfare "reform" are malicious intentional socioeconomic political educational war on black families particularly males.
For decades more than twice as many whites have been arrested for all categories of crime as compared to blacks. More whites are arrested for each specific type of crime except for gambling and robbery. Arrests, while not convictions, are not random events. Yet our prisons are disproportionately full of poor non-violent black illegal drug users and those in possession.
Blacks make up 40% of the American prison population but only 12-13% of the Americans. White drug offenders get a pass to medical health rehabilitation and empathy. Blacks are persecuted. America has 25% of the world prison population with only 5% of Earthlings. Blacks make up 40% of the death row population. With 80% of them being there for killing a white person.
While there are more poorly educated blacks on welfare than ever before a majority of the Americans in that category are white. While the proportion of blacks is higher there are 5x as many white people. Black unemployment, reliance on welfare and mass incarceration are at record levels. But all types of crime have been declining nationally since the mid-1990's.
Profiling, stalking and stopping blacks is the base frequent corrosive humiliating cop evil. Arrests, beatings and shootings are less common.
For decades more than twice as many whites have been arrested for all categories of crime as compared to blacks. More whites are arrested for each specific type of crime except for gambling and robbery. Arrests, while not convictions, are not random events. Yet our prisons are disproportionately full of poor non-violent black illegal drug users and those in possession.
Blacks make up 40% of the American prison population but only 12-13% of the Americans. White drug offenders get a pass to medical health rehabilitation and empathy. Blacks are persecuted. America has 25% of the world prison population with only 5% of Earthlings. Blacks make up 40% of the death row population. With 80% of them being there for killing a white person.
While there are more poorly educated blacks on welfare than ever before a majority of the Americans in that category are white. While the proportion of blacks is higher there are 5x as many white people. Black unemployment, reliance on welfare and mass incarceration are at record levels. But all types of crime have been declining nationally since the mid-1990's.
Profiling, stalking and stopping blacks is the base frequent corrosive humiliating cop evil. Arrests, beatings and shootings are less common.
35
I find it funny you mention blacks are only 12% of the population, so you obviously know it, but you don't carry thru the logical calculation with your previous paragraph. Whites are arrested twice as much for all crimes, except gambling and robbery, by your own words. Yet we make up 68% of the population. That's 5.6 times as many white people as black people. Yet we only commit twice as many crimes, "except robbery and gambling." We SHOULD be committing 5.6 times as much, but by your own numbers a black person is 3 times more likely to commit a crime. Maybe that's why there's so many of you in prison?
Oh, please. You hoist yourself on your own petard.
You use absolute numbers when discussing the number of whites arrested, but when you talk about the prison population you then bring up the fact Blacks are only 12-13% of the overall population. Here's the fact, Jack. Black violent crime rate is roughly 8x that of whites. End of story.
You use absolute numbers when discussing the number of whites arrested, but when you talk about the prison population you then bring up the fact Blacks are only 12-13% of the overall population. Here's the fact, Jack. Black violent crime rate is roughly 8x that of whites. End of story.
2
But it is the proportion compared to the percentage of the population that matters.
For one example, if 15% of the population are Latino and 65% are Caucasian, but 33% of the people on welfare are Latino and 33% are Caucasian, that means a higher percentage of Latino are on welfare than Caucasians.
No way to spin this as other than it is.
For one example, if 15% of the population are Latino and 65% are Caucasian, but 33% of the people on welfare are Latino and 33% are Caucasian, that means a higher percentage of Latino are on welfare than Caucasians.
No way to spin this as other than it is.
It's been noted that the lower violent crime rates are correlated to the lower amounts of lead in the environment. "Exposure to lead can have a wide range of effects on a child's development and behavior. Even when exposed to small amounts of lead levels, children may appear inattentive, hyperactive and irritable. Children with greater lead levels may also have problems with learning and reading, delayed growth and hearing loss. At high levels, lead can cause permanent brain damage and even death. "
(Source: American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psycology.)
This seems at least as plausible an explanation as "broken windows policing" - especially as the crime rate decline seems to have occurred regardless of whether a given jurisdiction implemented "stop and frisk" policies.
It seems reasonable that cleaning up graffiti and repairing windows right away helps fight blight. However, the "broken windows" policy has devolved into a "beatings will continue until morale improves" mindset. If the police want a community's help in fighting crime, they should start treating the citizens with respect rather than applying tactics more suited to prison guards searching inmates.
(Source: American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psycology.)
This seems at least as plausible an explanation as "broken windows policing" - especially as the crime rate decline seems to have occurred regardless of whether a given jurisdiction implemented "stop and frisk" policies.
It seems reasonable that cleaning up graffiti and repairing windows right away helps fight blight. However, the "broken windows" policy has devolved into a "beatings will continue until morale improves" mindset. If the police want a community's help in fighting crime, they should start treating the citizens with respect rather than applying tactics more suited to prison guards searching inmates.
5
@john m-
I don't know what lead has to do with this, the chief causes of lead in poor areas (that tend to have higher crime rates) were emissions from cars, which has not been a factor since 1980 or so when leaded gas was banned, and from older paint containing lead, which for the most part has been eliminated from most of the housing stock. There is a lot more claim that broken windows policing reduces crime then lead being the cause.
More importantly, you see it in NYC, the cops have been shifted by policy from the low level offenses, have been told by the police commissioner and mayor's office to ignore low level stuff, and I am getting the sense that NYC is returning to what it was in the 1980's. Right now it isn't anything big, but it is in the air, you are seeing a return to aggresive panhandling by homeless people, you are seeing in the subways aggressive behavior and signs that I remember well from the 1980's and 1970's, where unless someone was pulling a gun or knife on someone else routine crimes were ignored. The crime stats reflect this, and given that the economy is actually improving compared to where it was in the late Bloomberg administration, you cannot argue it is other factors. Curtis Blow argues that the surge in crime is caused by 'unknown factors', but it doesn't take a genius to see the dividing line that has happened in the last couple of years in NYC, with the change in administration.
I don't know what lead has to do with this, the chief causes of lead in poor areas (that tend to have higher crime rates) were emissions from cars, which has not been a factor since 1980 or so when leaded gas was banned, and from older paint containing lead, which for the most part has been eliminated from most of the housing stock. There is a lot more claim that broken windows policing reduces crime then lead being the cause.
More importantly, you see it in NYC, the cops have been shifted by policy from the low level offenses, have been told by the police commissioner and mayor's office to ignore low level stuff, and I am getting the sense that NYC is returning to what it was in the 1980's. Right now it isn't anything big, but it is in the air, you are seeing a return to aggresive panhandling by homeless people, you are seeing in the subways aggressive behavior and signs that I remember well from the 1980's and 1970's, where unless someone was pulling a gun or knife on someone else routine crimes were ignored. The crime stats reflect this, and given that the economy is actually improving compared to where it was in the late Bloomberg administration, you cannot argue it is other factors. Curtis Blow argues that the surge in crime is caused by 'unknown factors', but it doesn't take a genius to see the dividing line that has happened in the last couple of years in NYC, with the change in administration.
1
Leaded paint and gas have been banned for over 30 yrs now. Why is crime increasing now?
So is the recent spike in major cities because there a dose of lead spread in all of them at the same time? How long will that dosage take effect?
Wouldn't it help if the police turned colour blind, and learned to respect the rule of law?
7
Like in India?
Prof., perhaps you should come and live in the inner city of Baltimore and what you have to deal with, so you can stop spewing nonsensical platitudes.
Great rhetoric, Charles. Now let's hear the details of your plan to replace all the broken windows.
If this is solely a poor black people problem, let's hear their answers to fix the windows.
If this is solely a poor black people problem, let's hear their answers to fix the windows.
32
Blows solution is obvious to anyone who regularly reads his columns.
Its the white peoples fault.
disclaimer: I am not white.
Its the white peoples fault.
disclaimer: I am not white.
3
The answer the ( condescendingly termed) 'poor Black people' have been consistently giving is it is the sheer amount of guns available that feeds deadly violence. Black Mothers have been big proponents of gun control and the increase in violence that accompanies the reduction in their kids being senselessly harassed. Maybe Guns do kill people after all.
Broken windows needs no replacement, and it's good and just that it is being discontinued. This unconstitutional practice was hideous, period.
Why do so many people refuse to accept that policing strategies have any impact whatsoever on the crime rate? The truth is that the number of police officers, how those resources are allocated and how they enforce the law directly impacts the violent crime rate. Or do you simply believe that New Yorkers are inherently less violent than Chicagoans?
85
No - the anti authority crowd will now say it was lead paint. Somehow it caused crime but didn't stop scientific discovery.
It is interesting that so few people ever read Kelling and Wilson's Broken Windows article that appeared in the Atlantic in 1982. Fewer still read Kelling and Cole's Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order And Reducing Crime In Our Communities. These were social theories, not theories of police activity.
Neither of these gave the police a mandate to unilaterally impose a practice of mass arrests on deteriorating communities that had seen employment disappear, the housing stock crumble, the schools fall into failure and drugs appear on the streets. Arrest is simple. Arrest without probable cause ie "furtive glances" is even easier. The community bears the impact of these police practices in terms of false arrests, beatings and shootings. And police impunity. Correlations between arrests and crime rates have always been methodologically specious and spurious. But not to the Manhattan Institute and Heather!
Neither of these gave the police a mandate to unilaterally impose a practice of mass arrests on deteriorating communities that had seen employment disappear, the housing stock crumble, the schools fall into failure and drugs appear on the streets. Arrest is simple. Arrest without probable cause ie "furtive glances" is even easier. The community bears the impact of these police practices in terms of false arrests, beatings and shootings. And police impunity. Correlations between arrests and crime rates have always been methodologically specious and spurious. But not to the Manhattan Institute and Heather!
45
I read the Atlantic article when it first came out. My recollection is that the strategy of Broken Windows also mandated fixing deteriorating and broken things in the community - physical things. The windows of an empty storefront, a debris-filled lot -- to make communities feel less like a war zone. The psychology was simple: if the place is trashed, people will think they're allowed to continue trashing it.
Current broken windows strategies, however, focus solely on policing. And even that they got wrong. The Atlantic described a policing approach that would not tolerate the proverbial breaking of a window by vandals. To my recollection, nowhere did the theory give police carte blanche to ignore the constitution.
I must admit, as I see NYC officials call for backing off quality of life offenses, including public urination (!!??) I admit I moon for true broken windows enforcement as my neighborhood smells of urine every Saturday and Sunday morning, and a fair number of days throughout the week. Note to Mayor DeBlasio: no one wants to see a community member's member in public, regardless of the biological need.
Who knows if the theory as described in the Atlantic would work? A true broken windows approach has never been attempted.
Current broken windows strategies, however, focus solely on policing. And even that they got wrong. The Atlantic described a policing approach that would not tolerate the proverbial breaking of a window by vandals. To my recollection, nowhere did the theory give police carte blanche to ignore the constitution.
I must admit, as I see NYC officials call for backing off quality of life offenses, including public urination (!!??) I admit I moon for true broken windows enforcement as my neighborhood smells of urine every Saturday and Sunday morning, and a fair number of days throughout the week. Note to Mayor DeBlasio: no one wants to see a community member's member in public, regardless of the biological need.
Who knows if the theory as described in the Atlantic would work? A true broken windows approach has never been attempted.
2
Oh, good lord! Only in the epistemically bubble of the Tomes comments would there be certainty that there is no correlation between reduced crime and policing. And police are responsible for failed schools and broken communities? You really can't believe people actually think that way, but, here it is.
I've heard a lot of stories about the police stealing drugs from suspects or being blackmailed for being drug users themselves. DoJ sometimes prosecutes police officers for selling drug evidence.
It could be that one reason many police are opposed to wearing body cameras is that it would interfere with their thievery.
Maybe I should buy stock in body camera companies; I think all police should wear body cameras every hour of their duty. I wouldn't give the police the option of turning off the body cameras. The cameras shouldn't have an off button. The police cameras should be constantly recharged when driving and officers who are walking a beat should carry a supplemental power source. I'd keep the cameras on when the police are talking with each other too.
Cops should have to take a weekly P test too, so there is a record of whether they are using street drugs and /or steroids. It's cheap, it's not invasive, why not monitor cops for drug use?
It could be that one reason many police are opposed to wearing body cameras is that it would interfere with their thievery.
Maybe I should buy stock in body camera companies; I think all police should wear body cameras every hour of their duty. I wouldn't give the police the option of turning off the body cameras. The cameras shouldn't have an off button. The police cameras should be constantly recharged when driving and officers who are walking a beat should carry a supplemental power source. I'd keep the cameras on when the police are talking with each other too.
Cops should have to take a weekly P test too, so there is a record of whether they are using street drugs and /or steroids. It's cheap, it's not invasive, why not monitor cops for drug use?
2
Cops in all jurisdictions are subject to random drug tests. Weekly drug tests? The notion is insulting and intrusive. Would you like to have to urinate in a bottle under close supervision once per week? I doubt it.
Body cameras that can never be turned off would also be insulting and intrusive. Would you like to have a body camera operating when you're in a bathroom with other women? I doubt it. Body cameras worn by cops should only be recording when there is the possibility of contact with civilians.
Putting on a uniform does not require cops to give up every shred of dignity and privacy while on duty.
Body cameras that can never be turned off would also be insulting and intrusive. Would you like to have a body camera operating when you're in a bathroom with other women? I doubt it. Body cameras worn by cops should only be recording when there is the possibility of contact with civilians.
Putting on a uniform does not require cops to give up every shred of dignity and privacy while on duty.
Kay definitely needs to talk to the occasional policeman MORE and watch TV crime dramas LESS.
Now, imagine YOU saw a drug deal all by yourself, Kay, or some other crime. As you begin to talk to the first cop you find, you realize that your face & maybe your voice are being recorded for all to see. This will be evidence in a trial, so the perpetrator gets access to it.
Do you STILL talk to the cop since this happened close to where you live or work?
Now, imagine YOU saw a drug deal all by yourself, Kay, or some other crime. As you begin to talk to the first cop you find, you realize that your face & maybe your voice are being recorded for all to see. This will be evidence in a trial, so the perpetrator gets access to it.
Do you STILL talk to the cop since this happened close to where you live or work?
Well, at least we know that if the crime is committed by a murderous group of white bikers, there will be a tailgate party in response to it.
3
Broken windows theory became a fact through the confluence of drop in crime rates and skillful political framing of the drop in crime. Recent research on this "political fact" finds that it was not a fact, but a theory, that as yet to be proven. What criminologists will tell you about the crime theories is that any drop in crime rates is caused by countless variables which are difficult if not impossible to isolate and find a direct cause and effect relationship. To say that stop and frisk or broken windows causes a drop in crime is a theory, not a fact.
3
After four decades of studying the issue, I have come to the conclusion that the pursuit (or lack thereof) of consistent justice is the single most important denominator of instability globally. The trends indicating ncreasingly negative global views of America's "exceptionalism" or "greatness" match, almost exactly,the steady decline of "equal justice under the law" here at home.
4
"They are based on there being something intrinsically amiss in blackness or black culture"
Which "black culture?" There are several, just as there are many "white cultures."
There is something very much amiss in one major black culture. There are also things very much amiss in some white cultures, I'm not picking on just blacks here.
What is wrong is not the "blackness" but attitudes. Those attitudes are artifacts of racism and poverty and perceived hopelessness.
Mr. Blow is correct when he writes, "Arguments like these dance around delicately to keep people from seeing what they really are: racial pathology arguments." They're using racism to advance an agenda.
However, avoiding the reality of something amiss costs credibility and prevents facing real issues that need answers as part of the larger answer. This is a delicate line. It is not easy to explain, not easy to walk it. But then, if it was easy, it wouldn't be so important and it wouldn't need the full talents of Mr. Blow.
Which "black culture?" There are several, just as there are many "white cultures."
There is something very much amiss in one major black culture. There are also things very much amiss in some white cultures, I'm not picking on just blacks here.
What is wrong is not the "blackness" but attitudes. Those attitudes are artifacts of racism and poverty and perceived hopelessness.
Mr. Blow is correct when he writes, "Arguments like these dance around delicately to keep people from seeing what they really are: racial pathology arguments." They're using racism to advance an agenda.
However, avoiding the reality of something amiss costs credibility and prevents facing real issues that need answers as part of the larger answer. This is a delicate line. It is not easy to explain, not easy to walk it. But then, if it was easy, it wouldn't be so important and it wouldn't need the full talents of Mr. Blow.
18
Blackness is a fatherless world, and the government may be a provider but it is not a father.
News reports this morning on CNN said the recent spike in shootings and murders in Baltimore is related to re-invigorated drug turf wars on the streets. Police official said prescription drugs stolen from numerous pharmacies during the riots (including CVS -- Mr. Blow, did you really think people were stealing baby formula and greeting cards?) are making their way out onto the street, adding to the usual level of mayhem and carnage on Baltimore's inner city streets. CNN's reports came with security camera footage of "protesters" -- who Mr Blow and others told us to respect and understand as they destroyed their communities -- wiping pharmacy shelves clean and running out. I don't think they were after the penicillin.
If you believe the police, which at this point I do, those very same drugs are now at the heart of a new wave of shootings, violence and murder in Baltimore - a rise in violence that Mr Blow and others have previously blamed on a drop in active policing.
In a way, Mr Blow is right - the Baltimore police were pressured by media and local leaders to back off an stop policing during the protests. As a result, pharmacies were permitted to be looted, and those drugs are now on the streets of Baltimore with violence surrounding their sale and distribution. So I guess lax policing IS the cause. But it is what Mr Blow and others asked for. And they got it.
If you believe the police, which at this point I do, those very same drugs are now at the heart of a new wave of shootings, violence and murder in Baltimore - a rise in violence that Mr Blow and others have previously blamed on a drop in active policing.
In a way, Mr Blow is right - the Baltimore police were pressured by media and local leaders to back off an stop policing during the protests. As a result, pharmacies were permitted to be looted, and those drugs are now on the streets of Baltimore with violence surrounding their sale and distribution. So I guess lax policing IS the cause. But it is what Mr Blow and others asked for. And they got it.
86
Maybe next time the looting will actually be stopped.
5
Maybe it's common sense that the drugs stolen from a couple of pharmacies have fueled a vast wave of murder and mayhem. But isn't it equally likely that the police "slowdown" in Baltimore (arrests are down 50%) has contributed to the problem? Theoretical argumentation.
I personally agree with Larry Wilmore: “Hey, police, we didn’t say ‘stop stopping murders,’ ” he said. “We said ‘stop committing murders.’ ”
I personally agree with Larry Wilmore: “Hey, police, we didn’t say ‘stop stopping murders,’ ” he said. “We said ‘stop committing murders.’ ”
In the past, the rule was that looters would be shot on sight but I guess that is not politically correct for the liberal/progressives who value criminal lives over mere "property".
Blow’s column today, in a nutshell, is calling for what we all want – a perfect world. A world where there is no scourge of drugs and crime because we have a police force that operates with laser-like focus only on the criminal elements of society. Meanwhile, everyone else – especially the poor in our cities – happily go about their daily lives in urban Disneylands. And I’ll be King of Ireland.
Aspirations are great. Blow’s vision of ideal urban policing is such an aspiration. And it is tinted by looking back at the past through some very thick rose-colored glasses.
I’ve been in NYC since 1980, living first in Manhattan and now in Brooklyn, mostly in up and coming areas. Through the mid-90’s, I was mugged six times, either at gunpoint or by gangs of youths. In only one instance were the perpetrators bought to justice – and only because I was the only victim of a roving band of thugs going through Central Park to show up and testify before the grand jury.
My point being, the here and now is that everyday people want to go about their lives unmolested by criminals. So, while the police should be expected to be better at doing their job and held accountable for the indiscriminate use of excessive force, many others and I will continue to support the police and give them a degree of forbearance in doing their job.
Aspirations are great. Blow’s vision of ideal urban policing is such an aspiration. And it is tinted by looking back at the past through some very thick rose-colored glasses.
I’ve been in NYC since 1980, living first in Manhattan and now in Brooklyn, mostly in up and coming areas. Through the mid-90’s, I was mugged six times, either at gunpoint or by gangs of youths. In only one instance were the perpetrators bought to justice – and only because I was the only victim of a roving band of thugs going through Central Park to show up and testify before the grand jury.
My point being, the here and now is that everyday people want to go about their lives unmolested by criminals. So, while the police should be expected to be better at doing their job and held accountable for the indiscriminate use of excessive force, many others and I will continue to support the police and give them a degree of forbearance in doing their job.
213
This is just beautifully written. Very well said.
3
How do you define " a degree of forbearance"?
You make Charles Blow's point that:
"People have an intrinsic intelligence about such things. Outrage isn't constant or random."
In my reading, he is not asking for a "perfect world." He does not expect there to be a zero crime rate. He is asking for the just application of force, when needed, and an acknowledgement by police that they may be prey to unconscious biases regarding African-Americans when they choose to use that force.
"People have an intrinsic intelligence about such things. Outrage isn't constant or random."
In my reading, he is not asking for a "perfect world." He does not expect there to be a zero crime rate. He is asking for the just application of force, when needed, and an acknowledgement by police that they may be prey to unconscious biases regarding African-Americans when they choose to use that force.
Conservative rule of thumb: when in doubt, blame the victim, and if possible, prosecute to the hilt.
5
Liberal rule of thumb: be a victim and never take responsibility or accountability
2
Liberal rule of thumb: Claim to be a victim. And when it is shown that the claim is spurious, find another reason to claim victimhood.
Conservative rule of thumb; it's better to be safe than sorry.
No one is romanticizing Broken Windows. The sad truth is that it have actually worked and could be necessary to protect innocent people in higher crime neighborhoods. Those people's lives matter too.
93
We do not know that Broken Windows "actually worked."
That is a partisan position, one explanation for a complex phenomenon that has not one agreed explanation -- why crime fell during that period.
Mass incarceration and Broken Windows policing claims credit. There are other credible claimants. We can't just assume that other peoples' rights should be disregarded because "that works."
That is a partisan position, one explanation for a complex phenomenon that has not one agreed explanation -- why crime fell during that period.
Mass incarceration and Broken Windows policing claims credit. There are other credible claimants. We can't just assume that other peoples' rights should be disregarded because "that works."
3
In a world of too big to fail or prosecute, 'broken windows' becomes a very hypocritical and one sided way to uphold order, comparable to ticket people for littering instead to save environmental pollution.
@Mark Thomason: Why is broken window partisan? It is proactive policing, as opposed to reactive policing. In the first instance, police are on patrol enforcing minor infractions. Criminals like to operate in shadow, not in sunlight. With reactive policing, police respond to calls and investigate a crime already committed. We don't need to throw ourselves needlessly into debating theories, explanations, and partisanship. This is quite simple, even in this postmodern world of invented microaggressions and "structural racism."
How is it we are being taken in by occurrence of riots again? Is this the forces of anarchy vs. the forces for stable government? On the international level, the U.S. claims to be for 'stability'. In actuality, the plutocrats haven't seemed to have cared a hoot about stability, as long as such a thing called that actually amounts to the rights of the big businesses they control retain freedom to 'operate'. And that only means that those businesses can continue to rake in profits despite civilization itself ... coming to disaster.
Since that seems alright with them in the Middle East [starting such follies as the war on Iraq (2003 -) ... and the fact the U.S. actually could have had peace for Syria! ... If only it hadn't kept to its 'red lines', at least to extent of demanding the Assad government give up ... (even though it of course can't) ...
Maybe the same modus operandi,
and tour de force, is considered workable here in the U.S.
So as long as the powers that be in government are doing as the plutocrats say, things stay bad, like no jobs, while riots are acceptable too, the whole source of the protests, plus the protests on top of that, can keep going on ... now here in the U.S. as well as in the Middle East and anywhere else the 'neocons' and other perpetrators of these evils want it to happen.
Since that seems alright with them in the Middle East [starting such follies as the war on Iraq (2003 -) ... and the fact the U.S. actually could have had peace for Syria! ... If only it hadn't kept to its 'red lines', at least to extent of demanding the Assad government give up ... (even though it of course can't) ...
Maybe the same modus operandi,
and tour de force, is considered workable here in the U.S.
So as long as the powers that be in government are doing as the plutocrats say, things stay bad, like no jobs, while riots are acceptable too, the whole source of the protests, plus the protests on top of that, can keep going on ... now here in the U.S. as well as in the Middle East and anywhere else the 'neocons' and other perpetrators of these evils want it to happen.
1
I appreciate the dilemma that Blow identifies: If a group complains about police tactics long enough and indiscriminately (e.g. riots in response to the shooting by police of a criminal in Ferguson), the police will limit policing, as in Baltimore.
I can only speak for myself, a Middle-class WASP, but I think that major elements of contemporary black culture in the US produce "failure" in many dimensions. Ergo, black culture must be changed before positive changes can occur.
I know that this sounds smug, racist, and condescending, but giving poor black people more money seems unlikely to be a transformative agent of change. Black culture must change. Recognizing that seems to be the necessary first step.
I can only speak for myself, a Middle-class WASP, but I think that major elements of contemporary black culture in the US produce "failure" in many dimensions. Ergo, black culture must be changed before positive changes can occur.
I know that this sounds smug, racist, and condescending, but giving poor black people more money seems unlikely to be a transformative agent of change. Black culture must change. Recognizing that seems to be the necessary first step.
87
"African American culture". Black immigrants from other countries do pretty well in this country. That's because they didn't suffer the same level of degradation though - so their mindset and culture is already different.
1
Not racist, an observation on race. Sadly there are constituencies that like the status quo: liberal politicians that perpetuate the genocide so they can get reelected and black opportunists who "counsel" but feed at the trough.
Sad.
Sad.
2
When you know what you're saying sounds "smug, racist, and condescending" it's better not to say it. Because undoubtedly your self-judgment is spot-on.
1
Crime nationwide goes up and down on the tidal waves of social mood, and that mood is changing, and has been for some years now. Politicians, protesters, police and other groups are given credit or blame for crime, for the economy, for many things that they have very little or no control over. When the social mood turns, it cannot be stopped. The increase in crime nationwide is not a good sign, nor is the massive financial and social inequality that is finally causing the quiet outrage that it should.
As they used to say about President Truman, give 'em hell, Charles. It's about time we all began to call out the myth of broken windows and the hollow racist weaseling of conservative commentators. And so, so many more things now that a time of change has come.
As they used to say about President Truman, give 'em hell, Charles. It's about time we all began to call out the myth of broken windows and the hollow racist weaseling of conservative commentators. And so, so many more things now that a time of change has come.
2
This is all well and good, written from the ideological ivory tower.
Step outside of Midtown, the UES, the UWS, Soho and the Village; come take a walk in the "sketchy" northern and eastern neighborhood. All of a sudden we are back to the bad old days.
Once again there are group of people standing at street corners, openly drinking alcohol, smoking joints, getting into fight, yelling and screaming, openly gambling and, shockingly, dealing drug.
All this with impunity, in front of children, harassing those who walk by.
Once again, a small group of people is ruining the life of everyone around them. These would be perfect candidates for the lawful application of the broken window policy, but hey!, it may be racially biased so let's not do it.
And in the meanwhile, black kids are being killed by black kids and all seems ok. I, for once, would rather have the romantic Broken Window policy.
Note - the police would not find guns because people did not carry guns with them out of fear of having the guns found during a stop and search!!
Step outside of Midtown, the UES, the UWS, Soho and the Village; come take a walk in the "sketchy" northern and eastern neighborhood. All of a sudden we are back to the bad old days.
Once again there are group of people standing at street corners, openly drinking alcohol, smoking joints, getting into fight, yelling and screaming, openly gambling and, shockingly, dealing drug.
All this with impunity, in front of children, harassing those who walk by.
Once again, a small group of people is ruining the life of everyone around them. These would be perfect candidates for the lawful application of the broken window policy, but hey!, it may be racially biased so let's not do it.
And in the meanwhile, black kids are being killed by black kids and all seems ok. I, for once, would rather have the romantic Broken Window policy.
Note - the police would not find guns because people did not carry guns with them out of fear of having the guns found during a stop and search!!
120
that last bit is the only honest thing in this post. Stop and frisk was almost always stop and search.
"Outrage isn’t constant or random. It is conditional and precise."
This is one of the most laughable statements I have read in any Charles Blow column. It seems clear that Michael Brown in Ferguson was attacking a police officer as opposed to "hands up don't shoot." Yet the later drove the narrative and violence and looting and riots.....so much for "precise" outrage.
This is one of the most laughable statements I have read in any Charles Blow column. It seems clear that Michael Brown in Ferguson was attacking a police officer as opposed to "hands up don't shoot." Yet the later drove the narrative and violence and looting and riots.....so much for "precise" outrage.
79
While the force of Mr. Blow's rhetoric is undeniably sweeping, there is a tiny reality that might go unreported in the "Broken Windows" pro and con argument. Having worked in the Bronx for a while and taken a pulse of the opinion of those whose lives have been impacted by Broken Windows policing, a general consensus has been pro. A large number of people who are interested in living crime-free but are too poor to move into better neighborhoods might just end up endorsing the policing as so many of the innocent yet poor people of the Bronx are threatened everyday by crime and loss of lives to criminals. Please don't speak on behalf of every "poor", Mr. Blow; ask the ordinary people on the streets and don't constantly fall back on Post and Guardian surveys and findings.
146
before the broken windows you could not walk safely in nyc.. if you ignore crime it will flourish.. no better example than the mayor of baltimore standing with the gangs: hug a thug... and now they are back to running the streets with violence.
5
The "racial pathology" phenomenon is even more insidiously infecting America's "no excuses" charter schools. The demeaning, humiliating, shunning and shaming of young boys and girls of color, who march silently through the halls, is also a consequence of racial pathology. The mostly white, mostly wealthy, architects of these programs see children of color as needing to be "civilized."
Like "broken windows" policing, it is a racist and condescending way to treat children.
Just as privileged white folks (like me) wouldn't tolerate "broken windows" policing in their well-groomed neighborhoods, parents in privileged communities wouldn't tolerate "no excuses" discipline in their private or affluent public school communities.
Like "broken windows" policing, it is a racist and condescending way to treat children.
Just as privileged white folks (like me) wouldn't tolerate "broken windows" policing in their well-groomed neighborhoods, parents in privileged communities wouldn't tolerate "no excuses" discipline in their private or affluent public school communities.
2
Thank you Charles for this thoughtful and important essay.
For far too many, the reaction to Black Lives Matter is "Oh yeah, well black-on-black crime kills far more than police do." You forcefully counter-argue that taxpayers fund police and have a right to demand accountability.
I would add that the problem is not an imbalance of violence, but an imbalance of that accountability. The statistics wonks website FiveThirtyEight.com had an eye-opening piece several months ago on the difference between Federal grand jury indictment rates, which are around 99.8%, vs. the few statistics we have for grand jury indictment rates for police violence, which are between 0% and 1.2%. This is absurdly skewed, and indicates that the justice system is fundamentally broken.
Body cameras add some information which can improve accountability. But there's a fundamental conflict of interest when prosecutors who work closely with and rely on police are in charge of taking them to task. Some have suggested special prosecutors. There may be other good options.
To get at them, we need reasoned debate about this issue. Your piece Charles is a great start. Hopefully the "Oh yeah" chorus will not keep us from finding a good solution.
For far too many, the reaction to Black Lives Matter is "Oh yeah, well black-on-black crime kills far more than police do." You forcefully counter-argue that taxpayers fund police and have a right to demand accountability.
I would add that the problem is not an imbalance of violence, but an imbalance of that accountability. The statistics wonks website FiveThirtyEight.com had an eye-opening piece several months ago on the difference between Federal grand jury indictment rates, which are around 99.8%, vs. the few statistics we have for grand jury indictment rates for police violence, which are between 0% and 1.2%. This is absurdly skewed, and indicates that the justice system is fundamentally broken.
Body cameras add some information which can improve accountability. But there's a fundamental conflict of interest when prosecutors who work closely with and rely on police are in charge of taking them to task. Some have suggested special prosecutors. There may be other good options.
To get at them, we need reasoned debate about this issue. Your piece Charles is a great start. Hopefully the "Oh yeah" chorus will not keep us from finding a good solution.
68
Police are appointed to uphold the law. Like all the rest of us, some police break the law and deserve to be held to account. However, repeated examples of the blue wall of silence do no good and corrode confidence and respect for an entire force.
Consequently, when a car backfires and a police chase ensues, who would now dare to stop? In Cleveland, 2012, such was the case. The chase involved 60 cruisers and up to 100 officers. Does anyone need to be told that this is madness? And an officer who fired 45 bullets into the car with no evidence other than backfire and fearful flight gets off in a kangaroo court?
Sheer madness. And then people like MacDonald blame protesters? We've fallen down the rabbit hole.
Consequently, when a car backfires and a police chase ensues, who would now dare to stop? In Cleveland, 2012, such was the case. The chase involved 60 cruisers and up to 100 officers. Does anyone need to be told that this is madness? And an officer who fired 45 bullets into the car with no evidence other than backfire and fearful flight gets off in a kangaroo court?
Sheer madness. And then people like MacDonald blame protesters? We've fallen down the rabbit hole.
8
If the police are there to protect citizens and those very citizens are afraid to call them then what protection are they giving. If the police are viewed as enemy then how effective can they be when no one will give them the information they need to do their job? I grew up in the world of Officer Friendly. My stepson is a police officer in a very bad neighborhood in Chicago. I have nothing but respect for all those officers that helped me with my autistic son when he would get so agitated that I needed to get him to the hospital but could not contain him. The Chicago police were wonderful. Today, were my son still alive, I would hesitate to call them because I cannot be sure I will get the good guys or the bad guys. Or just one bad guy who will then be protected by the good guys? Would one shoot him because he charged at them, or just because of his irrational behavior?
This kind of mistrust serves no one, the people nor the police. As public servants paid with our tax dollars the police themselves should hold themselves and their peers to a higher standard. That does not mean abandoning another officer because he is being scrutinized but to support a real investigation so as to either weed out those that should not be police officers or to exonerate those that did the best that could have been done in the situation they were in. But to even seem to always err on the side of the police makes them suspect and gives those that would abuse power carte blanche to do so.
This kind of mistrust serves no one, the people nor the police. As public servants paid with our tax dollars the police themselves should hold themselves and their peers to a higher standard. That does not mean abandoning another officer because he is being scrutinized but to support a real investigation so as to either weed out those that should not be police officers or to exonerate those that did the best that could have been done in the situation they were in. But to even seem to always err on the side of the police makes them suspect and gives those that would abuse power carte blanche to do so.
10
Interesting, in the time when you were trustful of the Chicago Police, the were amongst the most corrupt in the nation, and they were lead by the epitome of corrupt political operations headed by Mayor Richard Daley.
Are you suggesting that corruption in the political power base and corruption in the police are the answers for the ills of Chicago, and by extension, any city with problems on their streets?
Are you suggesting that corruption in the political power base and corruption in the police are the answers for the ills of Chicago, and by extension, any city with problems on their streets?
1
Baltimore just requested federal aid to address it's skyrocketing rate of murder by shootings since the demonstrations earlier this year (reuters).
Mr Blow basically argues that white racial pathology explains such attitudes as Heather Mac Donald's opinion that the "intense agitation .. past nine months" contributed significantly to the increase in violent crime rates in the cities that experienced the riots with more violence and destruction than other cities.
Mr Blow clearly believes that "broken windows" policing is morally wrong (which can be demonstrated in most cases given the "9:1" innocently S&F'd per Mr Blow's research. Taken to extreme, as in the case of several of the police incidents / crimes that sparked the riots, he implies that S&F contributed to the explosive anger of the black community in the riots.
He's right about the effect of badly run or discriminatory S&F routines. He's wrong about everything he says about white racial pathology. That's not the problem.
The first stage of fixing a problem is to identify the problem. The problem is the impact of poverty and accepted social norms that results violent crime far out of proportion to the population. That social norm / reality dooms black children to a cycle of reduced opportunities in their life ... as well as more opportunities to experience jail.
Fixing that problem is what should be uppermost. Shouting about white racial pathologies just diverts attention to what needs to be fixed.
Mr Blow basically argues that white racial pathology explains such attitudes as Heather Mac Donald's opinion that the "intense agitation .. past nine months" contributed significantly to the increase in violent crime rates in the cities that experienced the riots with more violence and destruction than other cities.
Mr Blow clearly believes that "broken windows" policing is morally wrong (which can be demonstrated in most cases given the "9:1" innocently S&F'd per Mr Blow's research. Taken to extreme, as in the case of several of the police incidents / crimes that sparked the riots, he implies that S&F contributed to the explosive anger of the black community in the riots.
He's right about the effect of badly run or discriminatory S&F routines. He's wrong about everything he says about white racial pathology. That's not the problem.
The first stage of fixing a problem is to identify the problem. The problem is the impact of poverty and accepted social norms that results violent crime far out of proportion to the population. That social norm / reality dooms black children to a cycle of reduced opportunities in their life ... as well as more opportunities to experience jail.
Fixing that problem is what should be uppermost. Shouting about white racial pathologies just diverts attention to what needs to be fixed.
15
I would disagree that brutal policing is due to " ... something intrinsically amiss in blackness or black culture that can be altered or corrected only by overwhelming, unrelenting force."
Shooting a 12 year old with a toy gun 2 seconds after arriving was probably not because the child was black; it was likely due to bad cops, bad policies (that include anti-black sentiment but are not solely that) and "us versus them at all cost."
At the same time poor black neighborhoods are brutal places to live in and brutal places to police. I would not want to live there or be a cop there.
There are things that cops need to expect from people (of all colors) and things that all citizens need to be able to expect from cops.
I for one expect that cops cannot strangle people (and other crimes) and *not* go to jail and I would expect that citizens display certain minimum amounts of cooperation towards cops.
Shooting a 12 year old with a toy gun 2 seconds after arriving was probably not because the child was black; it was likely due to bad cops, bad policies (that include anti-black sentiment but are not solely that) and "us versus them at all cost."
At the same time poor black neighborhoods are brutal places to live in and brutal places to police. I would not want to live there or be a cop there.
There are things that cops need to expect from people (of all colors) and things that all citizens need to be able to expect from cops.
I for one expect that cops cannot strangle people (and other crimes) and *not* go to jail and I would expect that citizens display certain minimum amounts of cooperation towards cops.
2
We may never truly understand what brought crime rates down over the last few decades, or what might be responsible for our current uptick, but it would be a mistake to generalize on either and use that as a foundation for all policies going forward.
As for "police bashing" - I don't think people will generally trust the police again until cars drive themselves, pot becomes legal, and there will no longer be an incentive for minor drug arrests and speeding tickets to pad promotions and raises, instead of investigating and preventing real crime.
As for "police bashing" - I don't think people will generally trust the police again until cars drive themselves, pot becomes legal, and there will no longer be an incentive for minor drug arrests and speeding tickets to pad promotions and raises, instead of investigating and preventing real crime.
"or what might be responsible for our current uptick"
Crime overall is still down, and still going down.
Only the specific of shootings is up.
It is a very specific and narrow problem. It must have a specific and narrow explanation. It isn't to be found by addressing "crime" as if things were other than they really are.
Crime overall is still down, and still going down.
Only the specific of shootings is up.
It is a very specific and narrow problem. It must have a specific and narrow explanation. It isn't to be found by addressing "crime" as if things were other than they really are.
3
"We may never truly understand what brought crime rates down over the last few decades,"
It is often suggested that the legalization of abortions led to millions of unwanted children, who would grow up to be criminals, not being born. It is possible that recent restrictions on abortions have increased the current crime rate?
It is often suggested that the legalization of abortions led to millions of unwanted children, who would grow up to be criminals, not being born. It is possible that recent restrictions on abortions have increased the current crime rate?
3
The police are not above the law. Period, full stop. Situations where police act like Delta Force wannabees, garbed in camo and equipped for an afternoon in Fallujah are simply unacceptable in the US. Any cop who is garbed in such a way that there is no visible name tag and/or their face is not visible should be fired and so should their commanding officer. We clear on that?
All that said, there is a pernicious aspect to the black community that allows for the sort of crime that destroys black neighborhoods and contributes to the black genocide in this country, a genocide fostered by well meaning but deluded white (and black) liberals. Gun violence in the US is wildly disproportionately committed by black folks on other black folks. The liberal response is more gun laws which only affect those that choose to obey them and are ignored by those that are the evil doers. The root cause is simply ignored and deft hand waving replaces policies that are meaningful. Why is it that an obscene proportion of young black men are arrested and thrown into the slammer? Sure, racism is some of it but they are doing something illegal, drugs, guns assault. Yet these horrid statistics are varnished over by claims of racism and calls for "programs" while the violence goes on.
Single parent families are a disaster. The economics just don't work yet where is the editorializing about out of wedlock births in the black community?
Charles, you are a contributor to the problem.
All that said, there is a pernicious aspect to the black community that allows for the sort of crime that destroys black neighborhoods and contributes to the black genocide in this country, a genocide fostered by well meaning but deluded white (and black) liberals. Gun violence in the US is wildly disproportionately committed by black folks on other black folks. The liberal response is more gun laws which only affect those that choose to obey them and are ignored by those that are the evil doers. The root cause is simply ignored and deft hand waving replaces policies that are meaningful. Why is it that an obscene proportion of young black men are arrested and thrown into the slammer? Sure, racism is some of it but they are doing something illegal, drugs, guns assault. Yet these horrid statistics are varnished over by claims of racism and calls for "programs" while the violence goes on.
Single parent families are a disaster. The economics just don't work yet where is the editorializing about out of wedlock births in the black community?
Charles, you are a contributor to the problem.
45
Single parent families work fine unless they're forced to live in poverty. It's purely economic.
2
I think you have it completely wrong, and are blinded to the obvious. But, frankly, I don't care. The people who are getting killed are not in my neighborhood. Once the people whose neighborhood is getting shot up get tired of the increase in crime, we can return to sensible policing (i..e, stop and frisk).
42
Kevin Drum wrote a brilliant article about the correlation of the rise and fall of exposure to lead (in particular, leaded gasoline) in early childhood to the rise and fall of violent crime:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline
An important part of the story is that crime dropped in all major cities, with and without "broken windows".
Mr. Blow, please read the article and report on it for your readers. Mr. Drum's research deserves greater exposure and discussion.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline
An important part of the story is that crime dropped in all major cities, with and without "broken windows".
Mr. Blow, please read the article and report on it for your readers. Mr. Drum's research deserves greater exposure and discussion.
4
I conflate rioting, looting, and theft with criminality. Because that's what they are.
Another possible reason for the uptick: Journalists capitalizing on the events and inflaming public opinion. Still another possible reason: Politicians, including the President and the Attorney General, doing the same.
Another possible reason for the uptick: Journalists capitalizing on the events and inflaming public opinion. Still another possible reason: Politicians, including the President and the Attorney General, doing the same.
52
Well done, Mr Blow! How you keep your head straight writing about these times is an intellectual work of art. Keep on keepin on!
1
Blue lives matter also.
44
To me it is really a situation summed up in this "Stop and Frisk is against the Law". Please dont tell me that something that is against the Law is a good thing and works. IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Case closed.
6
It was established by the USSC and know as a Terry Stop. So you're wrong; it's both legal and constitutional, and it works as does broken windows.
1
it is not just plausible but there is a direct cause and effect. When known thugs are not stopped and frisked, it is more likely than not that they will feel emboldened. There have been examples of them taunting police officers, who are now in a defensive crouch, to their faces.
20
"When known thugs are not stopped and frisked"
That is not the issue. "Known thugs" are a special category of policing, like parolees.
It is everyone black or Hispanic who is being stopped and frisked, for their ethnicity, not for being known thugs. They are NOT all "known thugs." That is the problem with stop and frisk. It victimizes entire communities.
That is not the issue. "Known thugs" are a special category of policing, like parolees.
It is everyone black or Hispanic who is being stopped and frisked, for their ethnicity, not for being known thugs. They are NOT all "known thugs." That is the problem with stop and frisk. It victimizes entire communities.
7
Was there a "stop and frisk" policy in Baltimore or Ferguson to begin with? I've carefully read the DOJ report on Ferguson, for example, and I don't remember it being mentioned there.
1
Police arrest, prosecutors and judges interested in keeping their jobs, accuse and jail. The number of people who have unjustly accused and housed is astounding. And no one can stand up to the executives who preach safety. Those who do will suffer in office, forced to comply or lose their positions, labelled as soft on crime or anti-police or prosecutor.
1
It's protests that bring on upticks?
Injustice I guess we can't fix,
Bow down is the way
With Jim Crow in play
With lawmen inflicting loose licks.
Injustice I guess we can't fix,
Bow down is the way
With Jim Crow in play
With lawmen inflicting loose licks.
16
The problem, Mr. Blow, is that it is you who is also romanticizing a concept. You believe that the rights of everyone should be protected above all else. That certain stops and police tactics (I'm not talking about aggressive dangerous tactics) should not be used because they "infringe" upon rights.
The problem is when the rights of criminals are upheld, and this results in their being able to carry out more crimes. They can carry concealed guns without detection. They can gain entry to places because they cannot be stopped for having tried to open a storefront door when it was closed in the middle of the night. Their rights take precedence over the rights of those needing protection from their criminal acts.
That's where the rubber meets the road in this discussion. And if you believe criminals haven't figured out what they can now get away with, you are kidding yourself. The world in which criminals and police exist is an entirely different world from the one occupied by those advocating for their rights the loudest. And, of course, what criminal wouldn't want more freedom and protection from police interference?
The problem is when the rights of criminals are upheld, and this results in their being able to carry out more crimes. They can carry concealed guns without detection. They can gain entry to places because they cannot be stopped for having tried to open a storefront door when it was closed in the middle of the night. Their rights take precedence over the rights of those needing protection from their criminal acts.
That's where the rubber meets the road in this discussion. And if you believe criminals haven't figured out what they can now get away with, you are kidding yourself. The world in which criminals and police exist is an entirely different world from the one occupied by those advocating for their rights the loudest. And, of course, what criminal wouldn't want more freedom and protection from police interference?
108
Um, under the Constitution of the United States, the rights of everyone should be upheld. Yes, this includes criminals, and certainly those people who haven't been convicted of anything. And you can thank the National Rifle Association for advocating that everyone, criminal or not, can carry concealed weapons. And where did you hear that people can't be stopped from trying open doors in the middle of the night? You're making that up. And you've forgotten that in America, you're innocent until proven guilty. That pesky Constitution again!
55
Ray Clark:
Not "making things up". The example of trying to open doors was an example used to justify stop and frisk. It came from the NYPD police commissioner, in fact. He described how police officers often have a sense of which players are up to no good based on watching their behavior and knowing the people in their patrol areas. The suspect may have tried a few doors or been behaving suspiciously. Later, when stopped, he claims he was illegally detained for "no reason". The community lumps him in with the person who was, actually, not up to anything.
I agree that stop-and-frisk has too much opportunity for violating the rights of individuals, but let's not fool ourselves that it won't result in an increase in crime.
Not "making things up". The example of trying to open doors was an example used to justify stop and frisk. It came from the NYPD police commissioner, in fact. He described how police officers often have a sense of which players are up to no good based on watching their behavior and knowing the people in their patrol areas. The suspect may have tried a few doors or been behaving suspiciously. Later, when stopped, he claims he was illegally detained for "no reason". The community lumps him in with the person who was, actually, not up to anything.
I agree that stop-and-frisk has too much opportunity for violating the rights of individuals, but let's not fool ourselves that it won't result in an increase in crime.
19
AACNY: Given everything you say, I still believe that the rights of everyone should be protected above all else ***even when it produces bad results in individual cases***. Any other approach to running a society is worse.
2
For every knee-jerk ' most plausible explanation ' theory that some Manhattan Institute apparatchik can promulgate in the WSJ , we'll call their bet and raise it with 5 equally knee-jerk most plausible explanation ' theories ' that would be just as valid.
34
And all the while black kids will continue killing each other in the streets. You aren't helping.
2
Fine, but you and Mr. Blow have not offered even one.
2
The case highlighted in the linked article on "broken windows" policing is the one that continues to bother me the most.
Last year I worked briefly in New Jersey on a contract. Three times I went into the city to meet friends - each time waiting for them by the Ralph Kramden statue in front of the Port Authority terminal. After the first time I learned to bring an extra pack of cigarettes with me, as many people would stop and offer to buy cigarettes from me as I stood there waiting. I gave them cigarettes, but didn't take their money, though I suppose if I did it often enough I might have (it could get expensive after a while). I had no idea that would have made me a criminal. But I'm white so my assumption is that I would have just gotten a warning if an officer had seen me.
But it's simply beyond me why anyone would care about this - why any police officer would take the time and effort to arrest someone for this 'crime.' This is not even a broken window. It's nothing. No one cares.
And a man died because he was doing it. It's all so patently, obviously wrong that I feel stupid even trying to make an argument about it. All I can do is point and say, "seriously?"
At the same time it's eerily reminiscent of the final scene in "Do the Right Thing." Which ought to be a clue about what's going on. Do the right thing. Seriously.
Last year I worked briefly in New Jersey on a contract. Three times I went into the city to meet friends - each time waiting for them by the Ralph Kramden statue in front of the Port Authority terminal. After the first time I learned to bring an extra pack of cigarettes with me, as many people would stop and offer to buy cigarettes from me as I stood there waiting. I gave them cigarettes, but didn't take their money, though I suppose if I did it often enough I might have (it could get expensive after a while). I had no idea that would have made me a criminal. But I'm white so my assumption is that I would have just gotten a warning if an officer had seen me.
But it's simply beyond me why anyone would care about this - why any police officer would take the time and effort to arrest someone for this 'crime.' This is not even a broken window. It's nothing. No one cares.
And a man died because he was doing it. It's all so patently, obviously wrong that I feel stupid even trying to make an argument about it. All I can do is point and say, "seriously?"
At the same time it's eerily reminiscent of the final scene in "Do the Right Thing." Which ought to be a clue about what's going on. Do the right thing. Seriously.
217
It's about the loss in tax revenues. It was NYC Mayor de Blasio who had initiated a city-wide initiative against illegal cigarette sales because of the significant tax revenues NYC was losing. He was about to make a big announcement of an illegal cigarette ring bust using RICO when Mr. Garner was killed in Staten Island. That announcement was quietly dropped.
The orders that those cops in Staten Island were following came from the highest level uniformed NYPD police officer.
I'm sure plenty of people support the mayor's spending initiatives and would consider them "doing the right thing." That money is coming from taxes, which come from things like cigarette sales.
The orders that those cops in Staten Island were following came from the highest level uniformed NYPD police officer.
I'm sure plenty of people support the mayor's spending initiatives and would consider them "doing the right thing." That money is coming from taxes, which come from things like cigarette sales.
21
Yes, but were you standing in front of a store that sells cigarettes day after day for hours? I don't think so.
7
I'm sure it was not just about revenue for the city, but for licensed vendors, as well.
3
Your column should be titled, "Romanticizing Violence." Most Americans love violence as a means of control. "You need to crack a few eggs to make an omelet." We get nervous when anyone suggests we are too violent. Just listen to the parade of 2016 Presidential hopefuls who will try and out gun each other on foreign policy.
Policing in the U.S. is based on violence as a means of control. Compare us to any other Western European country. The police kills so many more alleged criminals than any other country. Yet most don't even blink, rationalizing that if only the deceased had complied with the officer's commands he would still be alive.
Our police reflect our society. Us against them. So long as the police don't turn their violence on the power elite and the White communities, it will be tolerated and romanticized.
Policing in the U.S. is based on violence as a means of control. Compare us to any other Western European country. The police kills so many more alleged criminals than any other country. Yet most don't even blink, rationalizing that if only the deceased had complied with the officer's commands he would still be alive.
Our police reflect our society. Us against them. So long as the police don't turn their violence on the power elite and the White communities, it will be tolerated and romanticized.
101
Not that it should matter, but when you look at the pictures of all those who died at the hands of police, there still is a rather sizable number of non-blacks. Remember, we are talking about at least 470 people so far this year, with experts saying that number should probably be doubled.
See the Guardian's new site that tracks US police killings, The Counted:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counte...
More info on HuffPo, including a side by side comparison of the Washington Post and Guardian analyses:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/01/police-killings-numbers_n_74864...
See the Guardian's new site that tracks US police killings, The Counted:
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counte...
More info on HuffPo, including a side by side comparison of the Washington Post and Guardian analyses:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/01/police-killings-numbers_n_74864...
7
And what about the converse of romanticizing the violence of thugs and wannabe-thugs?
Drugs and crime have an impact on real people - mostly hardworking, poor people who are looking to go to their jobs, be in their homes and get the most out of life without having to worry about being robbed or their home broken in to. Nixon's Silent Majority - in the case, mostly minorities - I would almost guarantee are all in support of an effective police force.
Drugs and crime have an impact on real people - mostly hardworking, poor people who are looking to go to their jobs, be in their homes and get the most out of life without having to worry about being robbed or their home broken in to. Nixon's Silent Majority - in the case, mostly minorities - I would almost guarantee are all in support of an effective police force.
1
"Most Americans love violence as a means of control. 'You need to crack a few eggs to make an omelet.'"
Neil Gaiman expressed it much more directly in his novel _Neverwhere_:
"Can't make an omelette without killing a few people."
Neil Gaiman expressed it much more directly in his novel _Neverwhere_:
"Can't make an omelette without killing a few people."
Maybe potential criminals had more respect for the police before we all learned about too many instances of police misconduct. Maybe respect for police had been more of a deterrent than police realized.
37
"Officer presence" has always been a major concept taught police. It is part of establishing control of a situation as step one. That is the whole point of uniforms and marked cars and badges.
And yes, if the police are seen as out of control violent threats themselves, that does make it harder to quickly assert officer presence to calm things and make it safe. Nobody should be surprised by that, least of all the police.
And yes, if the police are seen as out of control violent threats themselves, that does make it harder to quickly assert officer presence to calm things and make it safe. Nobody should be surprised by that, least of all the police.
3
Read David Kennedy's book "Don't Shoot." People in troubled communities know full well all about police misconduct: that's why they rally and demonstrate when misconduct is found out. Many, tragically, believe that police violence, corruption, and ineffectiveness (after all, why don't the police actually stop crime?) are intentional attempts of the white power structure to keep their community down. They are wrong, just as you are wrong about the community.
While I generally agree with you, Charles, there are two things I would add.
First, while it is undeniable that racial realities are viewed largely influence people's support for broken windows policing, those realities are guided by an education, the same one we all receive, that is fundamentally lacking in the teaching of ethics.
We see that in the comment sections of many an online newspaper, with people supporting the killing of fellow citizens by police, when our system of justice isn't based on police meting out justice. In the face of daily bloodshed, people are increasingly willing to make a philosophical leap and bypass almost our entire system of justice. I can't imagine that this is solely on the strength of the advocacy of police chiefs and mayors who have supported broken windows policing. Something else must be at play.
I noticed the shift to blaming Black Lives Matter for increased violence starting on December 23rd after the (unrelated) murder of two NYPD officers, and the capitulation of Mayor de Blasio, at first in asking protesters to hold off on protests, and then in the creation of two new NYPD units to police protests. Things just haven't been the same since.
Police brutality can't end on the strength of Black protesting alone. It is time public intellectuals, civil rights and church leaders to call for "relatively conscious whites" to join what is the most important issue of our day.
Justice is a virtue. We are turning into a nation without virtue
First, while it is undeniable that racial realities are viewed largely influence people's support for broken windows policing, those realities are guided by an education, the same one we all receive, that is fundamentally lacking in the teaching of ethics.
We see that in the comment sections of many an online newspaper, with people supporting the killing of fellow citizens by police, when our system of justice isn't based on police meting out justice. In the face of daily bloodshed, people are increasingly willing to make a philosophical leap and bypass almost our entire system of justice. I can't imagine that this is solely on the strength of the advocacy of police chiefs and mayors who have supported broken windows policing. Something else must be at play.
I noticed the shift to blaming Black Lives Matter for increased violence starting on December 23rd after the (unrelated) murder of two NYPD officers, and the capitulation of Mayor de Blasio, at first in asking protesters to hold off on protests, and then in the creation of two new NYPD units to police protests. Things just haven't been the same since.
Police brutality can't end on the strength of Black protesting alone. It is time public intellectuals, civil rights and church leaders to call for "relatively conscious whites" to join what is the most important issue of our day.
Justice is a virtue. We are turning into a nation without virtue
41
From Stanford U's excellent encyclopedia of philosophy:
"If we are concerned about others on the basis of a conscientious desire to do our duty or adhere to certain moral principles, then our concern for them is mediated by moral thinking, and someone, therefore, who cares about the welfare of others without having to rely on or be guided by explicit moral principles (or thinking) is more connected with those others than someone who acts only on the basis of such mediating principles (or thought). So the ethic of care or caring stresses connection with others both in what it says about the normative basis of morality and in what it says about the ways in which moral goodness shows itself within a morally good life; and by the same token, traditional Kantian or contractarian views of rights and justice give a double importance to separateness or autonomy from others through the grounds they adduce for moral/political obligation and the stress they place on being guided by moral principles or judgments within the moral life."
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-virtue/#3
I've been calling for cross-racial unity and activism for some time now. In the absence of any other leaders whose aim is to unify, I see Rev. William Barber's Moral Monday movement as the best possible choice.
http://tinyurl.com/k4664dl and http://tinyurl.com/p36tp42
http://tinyurl.com/omh2njj
"If we are concerned about others on the basis of a conscientious desire to do our duty or adhere to certain moral principles, then our concern for them is mediated by moral thinking, and someone, therefore, who cares about the welfare of others without having to rely on or be guided by explicit moral principles (or thinking) is more connected with those others than someone who acts only on the basis of such mediating principles (or thought). So the ethic of care or caring stresses connection with others both in what it says about the normative basis of morality and in what it says about the ways in which moral goodness shows itself within a morally good life; and by the same token, traditional Kantian or contractarian views of rights and justice give a double importance to separateness or autonomy from others through the grounds they adduce for moral/political obligation and the stress they place on being guided by moral principles or judgments within the moral life."
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-virtue/#3
I've been calling for cross-racial unity and activism for some time now. In the absence of any other leaders whose aim is to unify, I see Rev. William Barber's Moral Monday movement as the best possible choice.
http://tinyurl.com/k4664dl and http://tinyurl.com/p36tp42
http://tinyurl.com/omh2njj
9
Rima Regas you're touching on an important point in "justice is a virtue." Ethics matter. A conscience matters. Recognizing the ethics that underlie the actions taken by an individual matters.
We might be turning into a nation without something like virtue; I'd toss in the notion of "honor" into that consideration. "Virtue" and "honor" imply that individuals hold themselves accountable to a standard of moral behavior. The strength or absence of a virtuous or honorable moral community largely determines a person's quality of life. Organized religion once served the role of "conscience;" today, selfies broadcast over the internet serve that purpose.
These are "walk the talk" judgements of how people actually behave, be they cops or be they thugs. Both need to change in order to reach some level of utopia ... or at least a haven that is quiet, safe and nurtures. Right now, we've got war zones as ethics and recognized standards of behavior have cratered.
We might be turning into a nation without something like virtue; I'd toss in the notion of "honor" into that consideration. "Virtue" and "honor" imply that individuals hold themselves accountable to a standard of moral behavior. The strength or absence of a virtuous or honorable moral community largely determines a person's quality of life. Organized religion once served the role of "conscience;" today, selfies broadcast over the internet serve that purpose.
These are "walk the talk" judgements of how people actually behave, be they cops or be they thugs. Both need to change in order to reach some level of utopia ... or at least a haven that is quiet, safe and nurtures. Right now, we've got war zones as ethics and recognized standards of behavior have cratered.
1
I applaud your commitment to justice, but you are wrong about the police (at least the vast majority of them). Teaching ethics isn't going to help. What will help is the adoption of focused law enforcement (at all levels) starting with the most violent "gangs," along with provision of social services. My description is far oversimplified, like nearly all public discussions. Please read David Kennedy's "Don't Shoot," which goes through this argument. It's an important book.