Some history on Giulani’s turnaround, Bloomberg’s tenure, and now de Blasio’s early decisions when it comes to law enforcement tactics:
‘Given that de Blasio had run so hard to the Left during the election against “racial profiling” and promised to drop the City’s appeal of a federal court ruling that its “stop-and-frisk” policy was racially discriminatory, his decision to bring back Bratton seems more than a little puzzling at first glance. In 2006, Bratton co-wrote a strongly-worded defense of “broken windows” policing in National Review Online, blasting “ivory-tower academics” who “have never sat in a patrol car, walked or bicycled a beat, lived in or visited regularly troubled violent neighborhoods, or collected any relevant data of their own ‘on the ground’.” Hehas been critical of cities that “made the mistake of embracing” Occupy Wall Street.’
So is de Blasio just pandering to the activist base, while trying to keep the big donors and ‘gentry’ liberals in bed together?
New York is denser than other American cities by a longshot, so accepting an armed police presence is easier for many New Yorkers to handle, despite and because of the recent anti-gun activism. So, too, may be the inevitable cameras, technology, and other possible means used to protect the public when it doesn’t arm itself.
I suspect that living in a dense city lends to greater likelihood of accepting the use and possible abuse of technology to maintain public safety. I also suspect that this technology can be used as backstop against failed policies by policymakers who promise more than they can deliver. Such politicians ran on a platform that promises more peace, equality, and harmony, but behind the scenes where the crime happens, many still do what works.
This seems to be a better case scenario for de Blasio’s tenure.
Related On This Site: Richard Epstein At Defining Ideas: ‘City Planners Run Amok’…Virginia Postrel At Bloomberg: ‘How The Elites Built America’s Economic Wall’...The Irish were a mess: William Stern At The City Journal: ‘How Dagger John Saved New York’s Irish’
Politicians and politics likely won’t deliver you from human nature, nor fulfill your dreams in the way you want: anarchy probably won’t either: Two Sunday Quotations By Albert Jay Nock in ‘Anarchist’s Progress’
Josh Barro At Business Insider: ‘Dear New Yorkers: Here’s Why Your Rent Is So Ridiculously High’