'To Bless All Mankind' May 29, 2017 Issue

The Big Apple’s big drop in crime

The <i>Monitor’s</i> Editorial Board

Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor, January 11, 2017.

It’s an odd question: Should police be fighting criminals—or crime? Yet in today’s law enforcement, such a distinction between action and actor is not seen as odd. And this might help explain why New York has achieved one of the lowest crimes rates the city has ever seen.

Last year, New York saw the fewest shootings since it started tracking them. Major felonies were at the lowest level ever recorded. Most important, gang-related killings were down by almost a third from the year before.

Police Commissioner James O’Neill accounts for this success by simply saying New York is becoming better at “deeper problem-solving.” The city has indeed tried many criminal-justice reforms in recent decades. And better economic conditions have also helped cut crime. But what is sure is that police are now more engaged with their communities, explaining their work, listening to feedback, and winning allies. Clergy, for example, are enlisted to calm gang behavior. In Brooklyn, anti-violence groups often hold vigils in rough neighborhoods.

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