Innovation and Institutionalization: Factors in the Development of “Quality of Life” Policing in New York City

Abstract

Several scholars have described the development of new policing strategies in New York City over the last ten years that emphasize the elimination of public disorder, consistent with the “broken windows” theory, and sometimes referred to as “quality of life” policing. These works, however, have not dealt with the process of police innovation and in particular have paid little attention to the role of community-based actors in the process. This article will show how any effort to understand the development of new policing styles requires an analysis of the police as a public institution that needs a high level of public legitimacy in order to function effectively. I will utilize four neighbourhood-based case studies to show that the process of innovation in New York City was driven by a loss of public legitimacy combined with specific calls for changes in the values, mission and core strategies of the police by community-based actors. The result was the development of the new “quality of life” style of policing well before the arrival of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner William Bratton, who are frequently credited with the creation of this new style of policing.

Keywords:

• Police innovation
• Quality of life policing
• Institutions
• Giuliani, Rudolph
• Bratton, William
• Zero tolerance

Notes

Alex S. Vitale is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College-CUNY, where he teaches criminology and sociology of law. From 1990 to 1993 he coordinated police practices work at the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness. He now writes about policing issues related to homelessness, drug law enforcement, and protests.

In 1991, former Police Chief Frank Jordan was elected mayor of San Francisco on a platform explicitly based on broken windows theory. A year into his administration, the San Francisco Police Department launched a major new initiative—Operation Matrix—to reduce the visible presence of homeless people as way of restoring order to public spaces and reducing crime.

Sometimes the enforcement practices are not strictly legal, as when young people are ordered off a street corner.

Interview with Harry Laughlin, November 1994.

Interview with Harry Laughlin, November 1994.

Interview with William Bratton, 11 November 2000.

Interview with Howard Hemsley, 23 February 1999.

Interview with Howard Hemsley, 23 February 1999.

Interview with Michael Julian, 30 January 2001.

Interview with Michael Julian, 30 January 2001.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alex S. Vitale

Alex S. Vitale is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College-CUNY, where he teaches criminology and sociology of law. From 1990 to 1993 he coordinated police practices work at the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness. He now writes about policing issues related to homelessness, drug law enforcement, and protests.