[RP TownTalk] code and vendors discussion

[Sarah Wayland]

> OK, it's an interesting 10 page article on how crime was not reduced in
> Newark by foot patrols, but the citizens felt better anyway.

I took the article to be about something else. While foot patrols are
mentioned in the first few paragraphs, the remaining 10 pages discuss
the importance of "maintaining an orderly environment". The following
quotes seem to summarize the arguments, though the entire article is
definitely worth reading.

"Many citizens, of course, are primarily frightened by crime,
especially crime involving a sudden, violent attack by a stranger....
But we tend to overlook or forget another source of fear -- the fear
of being bothered by disorderly people. Not violent people, nor,
necessarily, criminals, but disreputable or obstreperous or
unpredictable people: panhandlers, drunks, addicts, rowdy teenagers,
prostitutes, loiterers, the mentally disturbed.

....


"But the most important requirement is to think that to maintain order
in precarious situations is a vital job. The police know this is one
of their functions, and they also believe, correctly, that it cannot
be done to the exclusion of criminal investigation and responding to
calls. We may have encouraged them to suppose, however, on the basis
of our oft-repeated concerns about serious, violent crime, that they
will be judged exclusively on their capacity as crime-fighters. To the
extent that this is the case, police administrators will continue to
concentrate police personnel in the highest-crime areas (though not
necessarily in the areas most vulnerable to criminal invasion),
emphasize their training in the law and criminal apprehension (and not
their training in managing street life), and join too quickly in
campaigns to decriminalize "harmless" behavior (though public
drunkenness, street prostitution, and pornographic displays can
destroy a community more quickly than any team of professional
burglars).

"Above all, we must return to our long-abandoned view that the police
ought to protect communities as well as individuals. Our crime
statistics and victimization surveys measure individual losses, but
they do not measure communal losses. Just as physicians now recognize
the importance of fostering health rather than simply treating
illness, so the police -- and the rest of us -- ought to recognize the
importance of maintaining, intact, communities without broken
windows."

-Sarah

-- 
Sarah Wayland
Maryland - USA
sarah.wayland at gmail.com