In spite of a weak economy and high unemployment rates The Department of Justice reports that there was a 12 percent decrease in violent crime nationwide in 2010. Experts are unable to explain the decrease; which was large in comparison to the average drops in crime that the country has experienced since 2001.
In light of the statistics, Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, an Associate Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City says, “this is not the time to become complacent about crime as it relates to jobs and the economy. People have been patient. If nothing is done to address the underlying simmering frustration, in time it will show itself.”
New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also warned that tensions over joblessness could reach a boiling point in the U.S. “You have a lot of kids graduating college who can’t find jobs. That’s what happened in Cairo…You don’t want those kinds of riots here,” stated Bloomberg last Friday during his weekly radio appearance.
The specific causes for the decrease in crime continue to be debated. According to Browne-Marshall, however, there is no direct correlation between preemptive search mechanisms, like the stop and frisk technique, and crime statistics.
As a result of a 1968 ruling by the U.S Supreme Court, police officers can stop a suspect on the street and perform a legal search without a warrant, if there is an imminent threat of danger. “Over half a million people were stopped in New York City last year. Unfortunately, the imminent danger criteria has been lost.” Browne-Marshall who is the author of Race, Law and American Society, says that many of the stops in New York City were based upon the subjectivity of individual officers and not a legitimate evaluation of danger.
According to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) 88 percent of the New Yorkers who were stopped and searched in the first six months of 2011 were totally innocent. Over fifty percent of those stopped were black. Statistics like these lead to a pending lawsuit, brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights, which alleges that the NYPD has a clear pattern of racial profiling.
In 2007, the NYCLU released a report, which stated that some of the most frequently filed complaints against the NYPD were those that alleged the improper use of stop and frisk. A procedure that was likely to result in a confrontation between a civilian and a police officer.
According to the same report eight of every ten civilians who registered a complaint of police misconduct were black or Latino. The NYCLU has said that the New York City agency that is charged with handling civilian complaints on policing has failed to protect citizens from police misconduct such as ” racial profiling, the execution of ‘no-knock’ warrants and the policing of lawful public demonstrations.”
In Detroit, year to date crime statistics for the period ending September 4, 2011, indicate that violent crime went down 10.49 percent in comparison with the same reporting period in 2010. This statistic contradicts the perception that increased rates of crime and unemployment go hand in hand in Detroit. Michigan State Representative Shanelle Jackson says, that a recent surge in shootings has jarred Detroit. “Unfortunately, we have not had a real decrease in crime here. Violence has soared in recent months.”
The overall numbers for violent crime may be down, but the City of Detroit indicates that the homicide rate is up 27 percent in comparison to last year. As a result Jackson, who represents a portion of Detroit, says that her constituents are likely to say that there is a need for greater police protection. “I think most people in my district would support stopping cars if the police had reasonable suspicion.” As a result of budget cuts, there may not be enough officers on Detroit’s streets to institute the large-scale preventative search measures that have been controversial in other cities.
“We can’t really have a conversation about violence and civil liberties with out a conversation on jobs and preventing foreclosure,” stated Jackson, who recently announced that she is running for U.S. Congress. Jackson says that the state government needs to focus on funding programs that address the high rates of unemployment and foreclosure in Michigan.
According to Jackson, the partisan political climate in the state’s capital has made addressing those issues difficult. “I’m working diligently to help people to prepare to work in this economy…. Under this current [Michigan] republican administration and legislature this is not the focus. The mentality is ‘people need to pull themselves up by their boot straps’ ”.