Running Head FACTORS THAT LED TO CRIME REDUCTION IN NEW YORK1

FACTORS THAT LED TO CRIME REDUCTION IN NEW YORK

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FACTORS THAT LED TO CRIME REDUCTION IN NEW YORK

New Yorkers for the past two decades have been the beneficiaries of the
longest and largest sustained street crime drop ever experienced by a developing

FACTORS THAT LED TO CRIME REDUCTION IN NEW YORK2

world big city. Several common crimes that often spark public fear like bugler,
homicide and robbery in less than a generation recorded an 80 percent drop. The
homicide rate by 2009 was lower than it had been in 1961.There was also a
decrease on the risk of being robbed which compared to the 1990 level reduced
by one sixth, while there was also a one sixteen percent decrease on the car theft
level.

Although there was a failure by the experts to anticipate the decline, there has been no
divergent hypothesis shortages that try to explain the crime drop rate. One explanation that is
frequently used is the innovative policing principal. Increased imprisonment is also another
explanation that is frequently attribute to drop in crme rate, market for cocaine, crack, tougher
gun control laws, the aging of the population, Increase in number of police and strong
economy are also other factors (Becker, Gary, 1968).

Particularities that led to a more prolonged and steeper decline in crime

rate in New York City include facts like there being an increase in number of
police. Since they are regarded as the first line of defense against crime, which
makes it necessary for policing to use an approximately 60 billion dollars
annually. Studies on the connection between crime and police in the 1970 and
1980s revealed a negative or insignificant correlation, due to the fact that these
studies typically failed to address or account for the main endogeneity issue. The
response of the political class to rise in crime was to hire more police, so in this
manner there is a direct correlation between the number of police and rates in
crime

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The rise in the prison population was also another aspects related to crime
rate decrease which applies since the 1990s is mainly reviewed as a period of
enormous growth mainly in the number of prison population as exhibited by the
expansion of the population behind bars in the mid-1970s which was a contrast
to the initial stable imprisonment rates that had been experienced for decades.
An approximately two million individuals by 2000 were incarcerated at one point
in time; this figure approximately was four times the number imprisoned in
1972.Half of this prison population growth occurred in the 1990s.A number of
divergent factors can however be attribute to this increase like rise in sharp
incarceration for offenses that were drug related, Increased longer sentences and
parole revocations for those convicted with these crimes(David, et. al1988).
The crack epidemic reduction that begun in 1985 as there was an increase
in the market for crack cocaine, the crack cocainesis that was produced by the
heating of a powder mixture of baking soda and cocaine. The precipitate that
resulted took the form of airy nuggets, when smoked even extremely small
quantities of this compound produced a short lived but intense high. Crack
cocaine emergency signified a relevant growth since it not only helped with the
cocaine sales per dose at a retail price of 5 to 10 dollars and due to the extreme
highly related to crackit became vital to the clients. The reduction of this market
helped reduce the crime gangs within the city (David,A,2002).

Legalizing abortion was also another factor that helped with the crime also reduction
following the 1973 U.S Supreme Court Roe v. Wade which even though seems like an
unlikely crime reduction source in the 1990s, but a body of evidence that is still growing
suggests that legalized abortion plays an important role in explaining a two decade later fall of
crime rate two premises can be used to explain this underlying theory mainly the there is a

FACTORS THAT LED TO CRIME REDUCTION IN NEW YORK4

recorded reduction exhibited in the unwanted births number and the fact that the unwanted
children are at a greater risk of getting involved in crimes(Van Dijk JJM:,2008).
The exhibited strong economy in the 1990s which saw an economic growth
that was sustainable. Between 1991 and 2001 there was a recorded 30 percent
growth on the GDP per capita this also facilitated a decrease in the yearly
unemployment rate from 1991 recorded 6.8 to 2001 recorded 4.8.If other
determinants like macroeconomics can be considered vital in the analysis of
crime rates then it would be possible to explain the falling crime rates by using
the economy. Other economic crime models like the Becker 1968 explanation
that state that legitimate improvements in labor market opportunities discourage
crime, The relevance of this prediction to crime include direct motivations on
financial aspects such as robbery, burglary, and auto theft, but less relevance for
assault, homicide and rape cases.

Change in demographics also helped in the reduction of crime this can be explained by
reviewing the baby boomers aging which represents a significant change in the demographics.
There is a relatively low rate for criminal victimization and offending among the elderly,
people over the age of 65 in 2001 had per arrest capita level an approximately one- fiftieth
percent as compared to 15-19 year olds. In 1997 by using NCVS data, Perkins reported that
those over the age of 65 experienced higher victimization rates for seriously violent crime
which were was one-tenth lesser than that of teenagers. This analysis is given that the elderly
population level increased during the 1990s, and it shows that an expected demographic
driven decline would possibly occur. Their strategies involved enforcement increase on
activities they considered a nuisance like using technology and panhandling aggressively to
effectively identify common crime hotspots, other implemented changes they implemented

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included reviewing policing strategies like the community policing where the police tried to
align with the community as compared to their usual response to emergency calls (Aebi
MF,2004).

The 1980s increase in the use of capital punishment in the United States
saw a total number of 117 prisoners put to death that number significantly
quadrupled from the 1990s to 478.This methods effectiveness as a deterrent has
been a prolonged debate currently other early evidence have argued in favor of
this effect. The Ehrlich findings reviewed by many critics have been found to be
sensitive and only exhibiting minor changes in their application, other recent
studies from the 1990s have incorporated data that have a tendency of having
deterrent and divergent series of effects.
Lessons that Zimring identified from the United States crime drop have
included facts like most people never realizing things like the city experience
exhibited most of the dominant assumptions found in modern America these
include presumptions like for the crime rate to decrease first there has to be
strategies put in place to address unemployment, poverty, and drug use, majority
of the population considering crime as wrong, and that there also has to be
majority movement of the minorities out of the city centers, and in addition it
entails a necessity for throwing many people in jails which is a misguided
concept(Zimring FE: 2012).
He also learnt from the period that just like NewYork other urban areas can
also make giant strides towards addressing their high crime rates without making
any major changes in their ethnic and racial profile; they can achieve this without
lowering their unemployment and poverty levels which they can achieve without

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either participating in mass incarceration or winning its war on drugs that
occurred throughout the rest of the nation.
He also states that the cities would be much safer and better off, if it could
effectively solve its social problems mainly issues like reducing inequalities in
income, improve its schools, and improve the worst neighborhoods living
conditions. In this aspect he notes that like New York experience most crimes are
majorly as a consequence of factors that can be changed without requiring
expensive social and structural changes. Communities are not ethnically
hardwired and people are not intentionally doomed to commit crimes and
socioeconomic or genetic characters are at risk.

In addition he explains that all Americans whether in suburbs or in cities, whether poor
or rich, can be considered safe today,by casting an unerring and critical eye on current
explanations, he states that recent and long-lasting generated theories fall short of the 1990s
crime rate drop. Zimring also learned that economic and imprisonment as independent factors
did not have any major roles in the reduction of crime rate as many theorists suggest.

He also learns that there are for future progress there has to be a constant review of the
divergent factors that combine to facilitate the crime level decline and according to him the
crime rate do not need any structural or social changes and effecting smaller shifts in the
necessary policies can make a major difference to the crime rates. There is also a lesson to be
learnt from the significant reductions in crime rates like in places like New York where there
has been a recorded of crime drop twice this review according to the national average shows
that there is still significant room for other cities to replicate this result of successful crime
decline.

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Reference
Becker, Gary (1968) Crime and Punishment:An Economic Approach.Journal of Political
Economy, print
David, Henry, ZdenekDytrych, Zdenek Mate-jcek and VratislavSchuller.(1988).Born
Unwanted:Developmental Effects of Denied Abortion.NewYork:Springer
David,A, (2002) Review of theEconometric Evidence on the Effect of Capital Punishment,
Journal of Socio-EconomicsSpring/Summer
Zimring FE: (2012)The City that Became Safe: New Yorks Lessons for Urban Crime and its
Control. London: Oxford University Press; PubMed Abstract | Publisher Full Text
Aebi MF, Lande A: (2008) Crime trends in Western Europe according to official statistics
from 1990 to 2007. In The International Crime Drop: New Directions in Research. Edited by
van Dijk JJM, Tseloni A, Farrell G. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Van Dijk JJM: (2008)The World of Crime. London: Sage.

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