US Police Commissioner can help us fight crime

Now, of what significance this proud achievement can influence our local police in their crime fighting techniques and approach towards crime detection? The answer to this question, is coming from the man himself who was responsible for the drastic reduction in crime in New York city. Most of us might be well aware that during the eighties and early nineties, New York city was considered to be the crime capital of the world, then Police Commissioner William Bratton arrived on the scene, and took control of the situation.

This is what he has to say according to an article in the New York Times, "This is really a success story which has seen the murder rate cut by 68 percent since 1993 while all felonies taken together have fallen by half. Two things about the crime turnaround should be appreciated. First, the huge drop in crime has been a boon to the city’s minority communities which long ago were left largely unpoliced and at the mercy of the lawless. Second, the NYPD achieved its success not by illegitimate means but by reinventing police strategy, a crucial change in procedure and accountability that began in 1994. Before then, criminological wisdom held that the police could not do much about crime. In that spirit, the NYPD spent almost no time thinking about anti-crime strategies.

Police brass lurched from emergency to emergency. No one looked at the overall picture. Since 1994, the NYPD hasn’t been solving crime but has dismantled criminal enterprises and support system. Quality-of-life enforcement, though hardly the whole story, has been key. Most neighbourhoods are usually more concerned about prostitution — low-level drug dealing and other such quality — of life offences than major crimes. Moreover, disorderly environments breed both crime and fear. Criminals who commit serious crimes frequently commit minor violations as well."

It merits the attention of our local Police Service at a time when they are faced with the challenges of our worst experiences in the history of crime in the country; not only this, but it has shown where the task and challenges that are now before them are not unsurmountable, but with careful planning and dedication, what can be achieved.

VICTOR ARCHIE

Trincity