Does Quality-of-Life Policing Widen the Net? A Partial Analysis

• Author: John Eterno,Angela Taylor,Bruce D. Johnson,Andrew Golub
• Published date: 01 June 2004
• Date: 01 June 2004
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3818/JRP.6.1.2004.19
• Subject Matter: Article

Quality-of-Life Policing • 19

*Does Quality-of-Life Policing Widen the Net?Does Quality-of-Life Policing Widen the Net?

Does Quality-of-Life Policing Widen the Net?Does Quality-of-Life Policing Widen the Net?

Does Quality-of-Life Policing Widen the Net?

A Partial AnalysisA Partial Analysis

A Partial AnalysisA Partial Analysis

A Partial Analysis

Andrew Golub

Bruce D. Johnson

Angela Taylor

National Development and

Research Institutes, Inc.

This research was supported by grants from the Office of Community Oriented Policing

Services (COPS) and administered by the National Institute of Justice (98-IJ-CX-K012

and 2000-7353-NY-IJ), by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (5 T32 DA07233-19),

by the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring Program (OJP-98C-003; OJP-2001-C-003) in

New York City, and by National Development and Research Institutes, Inc. (NDRI).

Important contributions to this research were provided by staff of the New York City

Police Department, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice Coordinator, the New York

City Criminal Justice Agency, and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Ser-

vices. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily

represent the official position of the U.S. Government or any of the agencies listed above.

John Eterno

New York City

Police Department

JUSTICE RESEARCH AND POLICY, Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 2004

© 2004 Justice Research and Statistics Association

*Abstract

In the 1990s, the New York City Police Department instituted a policy of arresting

individuals for less serious offenses that impinge on the city’s quality of life (QOL).

Critics contend that QOL policing widened the net for arrest, especially among mi-

norities. Alternatively, QOL policing could have created additional opportunities for

arresting individuals from the same populations that tend to incur arrests for more

serious offenses. This article reports on a comparison of New York City QOL and

serious arrestees interviewed in 1999 that provides partial support for this alternative

hypothesis; the two groups were similar regarding prior arrests, participation in QOL

offenses, and demographic composition. Of note, blacks and Hispanics comprised

close to 90% of both arrest populations. These findings suggest that QOL policing

does not necessarily widen the net for arrest.

20 • Justice Research and Policy

New York City (NYC) experienced a renaissance in the 1990s. The streets be-

came cleaner, the homeless were less visible, the economy was booming, real

estate values surged, tourism increased, and serious crime was down, especially

violent crime. Many credit aggressive policing by the NYC Police Department

(NYPD) for the decline in crime and disorder (Kelling & Sousa, 2001; Silverman,

1999), especially former NYC Mayor Rudolph Guiliani (Guiliani with Kurson,

2002) and former Police Commissioner William Bratton (Bratton with Knobler,

1998). In a comprehensive review, Eck and Maguire (2000) concluded that there

was strong evidence that numerous policing initiatives had an effect but that it

was not yet possible to know how much of the decline to attribute to each or to

other historical factors including the end of the crack epidemic, a strong economy,

demographic changes, and a decline in handgun use, particularly among youths.

Part of the NYPD’s aggressive policing strategy was to arrest individuals for

less serious but highly visible offenses (such as farebeating1 or smoking mari-

juana in public) that detract from the quality of life (QOL) in the city.2 In the

past, police may have ignored these types of minor misbehaviors. Alternatively,

police might have asked individuals to desist and possibly issued a desk appear-

ance ticket requiring the offender to subsequently appear in court where they

might have been fined. Of note, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who entered office

in 2002) and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly have maintained QOL

policing as an essential component of the city’s policing strategy (New York

Times, 2001ab).

Many have contended that QOL policing “widens the net” for arrest and

disproportionately targets blacks and Hispanics (Amnesty International, 1996;

Harcourt, 2001; McArdle & Erzen, 2001; Spitzer, 1999). This article presents a

partial test of this concern with data collected under the ADAM (Arrestee Drug

Abuse Monitoring program) NYC Policing Study (hereafter the Policing Study),

a unique and detailed dataset (see Johnson, Taylor, Golub, & Eterno, 2001). The

analysis compares the demographic characteristics (including race/ethnicity), prior

offending, participation in QOL offenses, and mainstream status attainment of

QOL and serious arrestees3 interviewed in NYC in 1999. If substantial net wid-

ening had occurred, then the differences in characteristics of these populations

should reflect the populations most affected by the increased law enforcement.

1 Farebeating involves entering public transportation without paying by jumping

over the subway turnstile, sneaking onto a bus through the back door, or other means.

2 The police are generally clear about the behaviors they wish to target. However,

there is not always a statute prohibiting the behavior. An essential part of QOL policing

involves finding an applicable statute, adapting a statute to fit the need, or passing new

ordinances (Kelling & Coles, 1996).

3 Analytic categories were defined according to most serious charge for the current

offense and are not meant to serve as an indication of a person’s routine behavior or

extent of criminal activity.