The crime news is worse than you’ve heard — and likely to get worse without some new thinking.
The latest crime figures list shooting incidents up by 13 percent — but that includes what happened in the freezing months when the streets were deserted. The right comparison is this summer to the summer of 2013.
Year over year, in the four weeks ending Aug. 10, shooting incidents were up 32 percent.
Worse, just this weekend more than a dozen people were shot, two of them fatally. Certain precincts appear to be going back to the Wild West days.
If the gunfire isn’t bad enough, on Saturday four men were stabbed in two separate incidents on the subway platforms at Grand Central Station and 59th and Lexington.
Despite the bloodshed, the debate in policing seems to center around “Broken Windows.” The key question, though, is how to design anti-crime programs that most New Yorkers can support.
One problem is the dearth of new ideas. Some police officials apparently believe that an anti-crime strategy like “Broken Windows,” that worked 20 years ago, will work exactly the same today.
Problem is, it can only be successful if a large portion of the population supports it, and that doesn’t seem to be the case right now.
While it’s not generally known, back when “Broken Windows” was being introduced in the NYPD in 1994, there was a spirited debate within the department over the idea.
The late Deputy Commissioner Jack Maple, an old-time detective lieutenant who was the architect of New York City’s crime turnaround in the 1990s, was no fan of Broken Windows.
He maintained that, “Rapists and killers don’t head for another town when they see that graffiti is disappearing from the subway.” The advocates for “Broken Windows” were essentially civilian academics, not experienced cops.
I think the tactic made sense in the days when the streets of big cities were overrun by aggressive hustlers. But, at least in its original form, it has probably outlived its time and now needs rethinking.
If my friend Jack were still alive, he’d be bursting with new ideas for the 21st century, not resting on past glory or promoting bureaucratic feel-good programs such as retraining the entire force and having police commanders tweet out optimistic messages.
Jack believed in strengthening detective operations.
While some police brass, who have never been detectives, deride the plainclothes cops, the detective bureau is the only unit that is entirely focused on fighting crime.
Its investigators are the most qualified people to ferret out robbers, burglars and gunmen.
Unlike TV cop shows, detective work is not just solving high-profile crimes or making spectacular raids. It involves understanding neighborhoods by knowing the shopkeepers, community leaders, street people and especially the local criminals.
Surprisingly the last group is one of the best sources of information. Just because someone’s on the wrong side of the law doesn’t mean he’s not outraged by the rape of a local girl or the murder of a young child.
The current wave of violence requires a strong and immediate police response.
The most effective anti-crime program that can be instituted right now is to significantly beef up the detective force, even if this means increasing the overall police complement.
The NYPD should immediately move its apprentice investigators now working in various precinct anti-crime squads into the main detective bureau. Their shoes should then be filled by outstanding patrol cops.
This will likely require the hiring of about 1,000 more officers to cover patrol vacancies.
Incidentally, when more hires are suggested, we’re always told it will take forever to train them. I stood guard on a foot beat in the heart of a great city after just 11 weeks of instruction.
The gold shield of a New York detective has always been respected from the mean streets to the executive suites.
Many New Yorkers regard detectives as super cops, which is one reason TV shows as far back as “Naked City” and “Kojak” have drawn large audiences.
A strengthened detective bureau will not only lead to the apprehension of a greater number of dangerous criminals, but restore public confidence in the NYPD.
Thomas Reppetto was formerly a major city detective commander and later president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City.