Keywords
crime reduction, broken windows, compstat, urban renewal, institutional controls, youth, police and law enforcement, crime rate
Abstract
This essay considers the sharp decline in crime that was observed in 1994 in New York City and across the nation. The author suggests that crime reduction in various areas must be understood in a local context. This article discusses the steps New York City took prior to the observed crime reduction. The essay then discusses how urban renewal projects, weakening institutional control of youth behavior, and highly centralized facilities and strategies of law enforcement may have contributed to the violence of the 1980's. The author concludes that bad social policies contributed to elevated the crime rate and improvement of those policies helped reduce the crime rate.
Recommended Citation
George L. Kelling,
Why Did People Stop Committing Crimes? An Essay About Criminology And Ideology,
28 Fordham Urb. L.J. 567
(2000).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol28/iss2/4