Comments on: Sorry, Malcolm Gladwell: NYC’s Drop in Crime Not Due to Broken Window Theory http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/02/sorry-malcolm-gladwell-nycs-drop-in-crime-not-due-to-broken-window-theory/ Keeping You Current Tue, 21 May 2013 19:55:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4 By: Michael Niv http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/02/sorry-malcolm-gladwell-nycs-drop-in-crime-not-due-to-broken-window-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-4283 Michael Niv Thu, 07 Feb 2013 00:54:14 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/?p=10830#comment-4283 The magazine Mother Jones, in its January/February 2013 issues, has an article by Kevin Drum titled America's Real Criminal Element: Lead The subtitle: New research finds Pb is the hidden villain behind violent crime, lower IQs, and even the ADHD epidemic. And fixing the problem is a lot cheaper than doing nothing. The magazine Mother Jones, in its January/February 2013 issues, has an article by Kevin Drum titled

America’s Real Criminal Element: Lead

The subtitle:

New research finds Pb is the hidden villain behind violent crime, lower IQs, and even the ADHD epidemic. And fixing the problem is a lot cheaper than doing nothing.

]]> By: Paul J Browne http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/02/sorry-malcolm-gladwell-nycs-drop-in-crime-not-due-to-broken-window-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-4278 Paul J Browne Wed, 06 Feb 2013 23:05:37 +0000 http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/?p=10830#comment-4278 While NYU’s Greenberg focused on crime between 1988 to 2001 - the more comprehensive and definitive study by Franklin Zimring of University of California Berkeley Law School and an earlier study by NYU Wagner Professor Dennis C. Smith and SUNY Albany Professor Robert Purtell found that New York Police Department’s Operation Impact was responsible for driving crime down in New York City far below that of other cities. Zimring found New York’s decline was twice as long and twice as large as the rest of the county, but acknowledged that the other American cities were experiencing declines during the first 10 years of the New York decline. However, Zimring found that New York City’s decline continued for another decade as crime elsewhere increased. So did Smith and Purtell. According to NYU’s announcement about their study, “This empirical assessment of NYPD’s targeted-zone crime reduction strategy comes as recent national crime statistics show an upward turn in crime in many of America’s big cities." Professors Smith and Purtell said Operation Impact "…represents an important reason behind continuing improvements in public safety in New York City.” Zimring literally wrote the book on New York’s crime decline, and cited Operation Impact or “hot spot” policing as the principal reason why. We concur. Paul J. Browne Deputy Commisioner, NYPD While NYU’s Greenberg focused on crime between 1988 to 2001 – the more comprehensive and definitive study by Franklin Zimring of University of California Berkeley Law School and an earlier study by NYU Wagner Professor Dennis C. Smith and SUNY Albany Professor Robert Purtell found that New York Police Department’s Operation Impact was responsible for driving crime down in New York City far below that of other cities.

Zimring found New York’s decline was twice as long and twice as large as the rest of the county, but acknowledged that the other American cities were experiencing declines during the first 10 years of the New York decline. However, Zimring found that New York City’s decline continued for another decade as crime elsewhere increased. So did Smith and Purtell. According to NYU’s announcement about their study, “This empirical assessment of NYPD’s targeted-zone crime reduction strategy comes as recent national crime statistics show an upward turn in crime in many of America’s big cities.” Professors Smith and Purtell said Operation Impact “…represents an important reason behind continuing improvements in public safety in New York City.”

Zimring literally wrote the book on New York’s crime decline, and cited Operation Impact or “hot spot” policing as the principal reason why. We concur.

Paul J. Browne
Deputy Commisioner, NYPD

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