[RP TownTalk] code and vendors discussion

[Roland Walker]

Marc,

Yes, there is a lot of nuance to what happened in New York.  There was
also a nationwode truce between the Bloods and Crips (two major gangs)
that led to a reduction in deadly turf fights.  Of course, others
argue that the gangs were spurred to a truce in part because of rising
enforcement and willingness to incarcerate.  It's always hard to
separate cause and effect in the social sciences.

Still, I think that Riverdale Park looks shabby.  Since our town is
full of amazing people, I think the look of the town should better
reflect our potential.  And I absolutely do believe that hat sprucing
things up could have many secondary benefits, say in the ability to
attract good businesses.  In the case of gang graffiti, immediate
cleanup is absolutely essential.  Public Works does well on that one
when they are notified about the graffiti.

I don't have much patience with the argument that the town is already
doing everything possible on quality-of-life issues.  I join with
Bruce Wernek and many others in advocating for greater enforcement of
existing laws.

R

On 11/4/07, marc stauffer <marc.stauffer at verizon.net> wrote:
> Roland, Paul, Lou and Marc,
> This is a really useful discussion.  Hopefully it will stay civil.
> I'd like to know more about what the "alternative" methods were that
> San Francisco utiliized to achieve the gains in crime reduction and
> detention rates the study outlines.
> I do think that the success of the "broken windows" method, at least
> in the context of NYC, is more complicated than either of the other
> articles let on.  I'd argue that the policing strategy instituted by
> mayor Giuliani and chief Bratton went hand-in-hand with new set of
> social, business, and urban planning policies that succeeded in
> cleaning up large swathes of the city, fostering gentrification, and
> encouraging tourism.  At the same time these policies sanitized much
> of the city, created a much more authoritarian type of governance
> (that had large repercussions in citizen's sense of trust in the
> police force), and acted to marginalize the political strength of
> much of the minority and poor segments of the population.
> As Lou mentions about how to best devote resources to different
> areas, the "broken windows" method had huge cost implications for the
> city's budget that it was fortunate enough to be able to swallow
> during a time of a booming economy.
> I don't know what alternatives might look like for Riverdale Park,
> but it seems like we need to figure something out: out walking the
> dogs tonight I noticed a house in Ward 2 had been tagged with
> graffiti and a bunch of new graffiti at the rt. 410 overpass over the
> river at the bike path.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't an artistic
> installation.
> I hope the conversation along this thread continues with insights
> from others.  It seems to me to be perhaps the most important issue
> on the table.
> Regards,
> Marc Stauffer
> 4913 ravenswood rd.
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