Criminals are such a scourge on America; the ‘Shining City On a Hill’ never had a chance due to bad historical
choices.

This article seems balanced but leaves out two critical points; the NYPD quota system pressures police to make stops, write tickets, and make petty arrests, AND seemingly minor penalties can have lifelong consequences. These two factors mean the NYPD strategies have been a much more blunt, and severe tool than Zimring understands. People in heavily policed communities understand this very well but it’s not clear Zimring wants to hear this.

“Patrols then deploy in full force on-site — whether it is a sidewalk, a bar or any other public place — sometimes for weeks at a time, systematically stopping and frisking anyone who looks suspicious and staring down everyone else. Although one might expect that criminals would just move to another street and resume their business as usual, that is not what happened in New York. Thus, crimes prevented one day at a particular location do not ineluctably have to be committed somewhere else the day after.”

confirms my suspicion that. using this tactic of petty harassment, the NYPD simply drove criminals to other cities. That explains why the decline was higher in NYC than elsewhere.

Great article. And good attempts at falsifying your theories. Hope my comment will be useful.