| The precipitous drop in crime in New York accounted for 25% of the drop in the FBI's crime statistics, which makes it particularly interesting and important. Rudy used the "broken windows" theory, put forth by James Q. Wilson, that holds that taking care of apparently trivial public disorder has a broader impact: allowing vandalism to persist signals that the authorities don't care, and have abdicated control, to some extent. Thus, he got rid of the squeegee people that used to beset motorist as they entered New York, to my relief, certainly, addressing a variety of "quality of life" crimes. He also took, from Wilson and others, the idea of community policing, where the force established stronger ties to the community, and put policemen in more visible positions. He tried to break up "crime havens", like some of the red light districts, and to concentrate particularly on making places like Times Square safer and more family friendly. He made the improvement of the morale of the police force a top priority. Most people acknowledge that these and other initiatives had some impact on crime reduction, although there is debate about the relative impact of various factors. Since other Republican administrations that emerged in other cities during the '90s adopted similar policies, Guiliani serves as a model for Republican municipal management. |
