the true story behind the crime crash of the 1990s /
First Statement of Responsibility
Andrew Karmen.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
New York :
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
New York University Press,
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
c2000.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
xix, 316 p. :
Other Physical Details
ill. ;
Dimensions
24 cm.
INTERNAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES/INDEXES NOTE
Text of Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-305) and indexes.
CONTENTS NOTE
Text of Note
The 1990s crime crash in New York -- Deconstructing murders -- NYPD or not NYPD: that is the question -- Behind bars? -- The drug-crime connection -- It's the economy, stupid! or is it? Did the boom cause the crash? -- Where have all the criminals gone? Did favorable demographic trends facilitate the crash? -- Lessons from the New York experience.
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
"In 1990, New Yorkers were being murdered at a record clip of nearly 2,500 a year. By the end of the decade, the body count had dived to 70 percent. The number of robberies, car thefts, and other street crimes reported to New York Police Department also plummeted. This precipitous, unprecedented, and unexpected crime crash - the most dramatic example of a broader, nationwide trend in the 1990s - has been viewed by many as not less than a miracle. Andrew Karmen tracks a quarter century of murder in the city Americans have most commonly associated with rampant street crime. Providing both a local and a national context for New York's plunging crime rate, Karmen tests and debunks the many self-serving explanations for the decline. While crediting a more effective police force for its efforts, Karmen also emphasizes the decline of the crack epidemic, skyrocketing incarceration rates, favorable demographic trends, a healthy economy, an influx of hard working and law abiding immigrants, a rise in college enrollment, and an unexpected outbreak of improved behavior by young men growing up in poverty stricken neighborhoods. "New York Murder Mystery" is the most authoritative study to date of why crime rates rise and fall." -- Book cover.