Since Mayor de Blasio took office a little over a year ago, his plans for the NYPD have been difficult to fathom. One puzzle stems from the fact that the people who have backed him have now become his critics on the issue of policing.
Last week, for instance, we learned that a prominent liberal group of supporters, called the North Star Fund, is seeking donations so it can campaign for NYPD reforms.
One of its top priorities is to end low-level Broken Windows policing, which is designed to maintain a sense of orderliness in our communities on a daily basis. The problem is the mayor and his police commissioner, William Bratton, back the program.
It’s not clear what de Blasio will do.
The concept of Broken Windows policing, which dates to the mid-90s in New York, is that if one broken window in a building is left unrepaired, soon all the windows will be smashed.
The analogy was that if one act of disorder, even a low-level infraction such as drinking in public, were overlooked, it would send a bad message, and other people would soon act similarly.
Criminals would believe they could get away with committing more serious offenses.
Once popular, the theory has now become a target of criticism, particularly among those likely to have supported de Blasio.
Attacks on Broken Windows ramped up last July, after cops on Staten Island attempted to arrest Eric Garner for allegedly selling loose cigarettes, a fairly minor offense.
When police officers took him down, Garner was heard to complain that he could not breathe. Shortly thereafter, he died — prompting months of protests. Notably, the North Star Fund’s new campaign is named “Let Us Breathe.”
As matters stand, Broken Windows has every prospect of souring police-community relations for the remainder of the mayor’s term.
There is no reason, however, that policing needs to be held hostage to an outdated concept. Remember, when it was introduced 20 years ago, the city was in a virtual state of anarchy with junkies and hustlers owning the streets.
Vigorous law enforcement was essential to restore safety and order to many neighborhoods. Today, fortunately, that is no longer the case.
One suggestion for easing up on Broken Windows is to have cops issue warnings or summonses instead of making arrests.
Unfortunately, that’s not likely to suffice: As any traffic cop will attest, a citizen who receives a summons or is merely told to move on may get as angry as one who is being arrested.
On a hot summer night, all it would take for another Garner incident is for one of New York’s Finest to tell some housing-project resident drinking beer in an open space to knock it off.
But the NYPD could look for new strategies to maintain public order that do not necessarily involve strict enforcement of low-level crimes. There are various possibilities.
One idea, for example, involves community-intelligence-driven operations.
Instead of sending uniformed officers into a high-disorder area and letting them figure out a way to deal with the situation, a relatively small number of officers, especially detectives, could work with local residents to develop an in-depth analysis of the precinct’s problems.
If the area is one with a high concentration of crime, then a vigorous campaign of arresting serious criminals might convince local folks to be more law-abiding. These strategies would dovetail with the CompStat program, which identifies high-crime hot spots.
Another tactic would be to encourage outdoor activities to put more eyes on the street.
This, in effect, would pit residents — acting as watchdogs — against serious criminals. Long ago, the urbanologist Jane Jacobs described how vigorous street life helps to keep a neighborhood safe.
Finally, it’s important to note that New York’s police force has 6,000 fewer officers than it did when Michael Bloomberg became mayor.
So far, de Blasio has shown no sign of wanting to bring the number back up by hiring additional cops.
To implement his new strategies, however, he may need to bring on at least 1,000 new officers right away and probably 1,000 more at the beginning of 2016.
De Blasio’s predicament offers a chance to reevaluate NYPD operating strategies in 2015. We need to take a new look at neighborhood policing and get out from under the shadow of Broken Windows.
It’s time for broad reappraisal of longstanding policing practices that by now may have grown obsolete.
Thomas A. Reppetto is the past president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and a former commander of detectives in the Chicago Police Department.
