NCJ Number
188325
Date Published
2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Based on interviews with police officers, sergeants, and captains within the New York City Police Department (NYPD)--all of whom requested anonymity for fear of reprisal--this paper explores how the "zero tolerance" policy for public-order offenses plays out on the street, and what toll it has taken on its enforcers and targets alike.
Abstract
The paper also examines how the city's other law enforcement agency, the Department of Correction, has successfully adapted elements of zero-tolerance policing to the city's jail complex on Rikers Island, producing a 90-percent decline in inmate violence since 1995. Echoing the sentiments of every police officer interviewed, an NYPD sergeant with 11 years on the job described morale among police officers as "lower than [his] shoe." He cited insufficient salary, unflattering media coverage, and an anti-NYPD sentiment that has pervaded public thinking. Undeniably, the NYPD has driven down crime substantially over the past 5 years, but its success has been marred by a number of high-profile police brutality cases and aggressive police tactics that have changed or ended the lives of ordinary citizens. In responding to the current swell of public backlash directed at the NYPD, the sergeant noted that "perps consider harassment from cops as an occupational hazard. It's when the more mainstream, law-abiding citizens get busted for low-level infractions that the outrage begins." In the Rikers Island jail system, both inmates and employees are held accountable for reducing violence and contraband, as well as for keeping an orderly jail. Zero tolerance under this policy means that if an inmate slashes another inmate, for example, he is charged with assault, which can carry a sentence of up to 7 years in State prison. Although this has resulted in reduced violence in the jail, the Department of Correction estimates that approximately 75 percent of the inmates will be back in less than a year. Under the zero tolerance policy, crime is down, the police are weary, and the jails are full; however, as data analyzed by Michael Jacobson show ("Trends in Criminal Justice Spending, Employment and Workloads in New York City Since the Late 1970's"), increased spending on criminal justice has not led to greater public safety. If the current mayoral administration increased funding for social services and showed the same "zero tolerance" for inefficiency in agencies such as the city's Office of Human Resources Administration, the drop in crime that New York City has enjoyed might endure, and the quality of life for all New Yorkers might improve. 29 notes