Zero tolerance strategy

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Zero tolerance strategy (English: Zero Tolerance Policy ) refers to a strategy of crime control and crime prevention . As part of this strategy, the police already intervene consistently if violations of the regulations are committed below the criminal threshold, such as aggressive begging, public "loitering", alcohol consumption in public. The aim of the strategy is to increase the density of controls in order to detect and / or prevent criminal offenses in the early stages. The zero tolerance strategy is based on the Broken Windows theory , it became known in the form of the "New York Model". German criminalistsand criminal politicians also speak of a strategy of zero tolerance in a variant .

Successes reported by advocates of a zero tolerance strategy are largely seen today in the context of the general decline in crime , as declines have been similar in regions with and without zero tolerance.

The "New York Model"

In 1994, New York Police Chief Bill Bratton invoked the broken windows theory under then Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani . The police strategy developed by Bratton consisted of a rigorous "zero tolerance" towards the many small harassments and offenses in the public by lowering the police intervention threshold for this behavior.

This happened against the background of an extraordinarily high crime rate , a murder and manslaughter rate well above the American average and - among other things - the accumulation of everyday norm violations and increasing littering and pollution of public spaces and the subway. Bratton and Giuliani believed that petty offenses were the tipping point for more serious crimes. The program resulted in a comprehensive plan of action, which was stated to aim to recapture public space and restore citizens' sense of security lost in the "inhospitable city".

The pillars of this concept were seven packages of measures.

  1. In view of the large number of illegal firearms owned , attempts have been made to punish the illegal possession, trafficking and use of firearms through “quick courts” with the aim of reducing the number of violent acts involving firearms.
  2. Smaller offenses such as dodging , begging or skipping school were also rigorously prosecuted. Gun controls were consistently carried out in schools. Suspicious people in public spaces were also checked more intensely than before.
  3. "Zero tolerance" was used to tackle administrative offenses such as street trading, playing with hats or driving vehicles with so-called " ghetto blasters ". By consistently combating disorder in the form of deviant behavior and advancing police intervention, the police wanted to demonstrate that they took the problems of the population seriously. This in turn should create trust in the police, reduce the population's fear of crime and increase their sense of security. Specifically, for example , small dealers active in street drug trafficking were immediately given their money and their vehicle confiscated; they were also banned from entering the house . People who begged on public transport or verbally abused other passengers were detained for a few days. Graffiti on houses and on public transport was removed within a day, so that no sprayer had the opportunity to admire his work again or to have it admired. People who had been sentenced to community service were often used for this cleaning work; they had to wear vests with the name of the court - for example, "Midtown Community Court" - by which they had been sentenced.
  4. Previously neglected and dirty locations were tidied up and cleaned.
  5. A computerized police information system was introduced, with the help of which daily checks, crimes, arrests and seizures could be documented for each individual police station. Successful district managers were publicly praised if necessary. The system thus became an "in-house" control of the success of the measures taken.
  6. Cooperation with citizens in the city was sought. They should feel responsible for certain parts of the city and inform the police of any grievances. In addition, vigilante guards were organized to take on informal control tasks in their district.
  7. The police force was increased. Their visible presence was increased by increased foot strips. Centrally organized specialist commissariats were dissolved and their tasks were transferred to the districts and districts. The aim was to promote freedom of movement and action, because the local officials should be responsible for solving problems.

It was rather young, dynamic civil servants who were entrusted with management tasks and many of the older district managers were retired early. It was a ' corporate identity created' the police, which is characterized by the specifications "Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect" ( "courtesy, professionalism, respect" ) certain. These police measures were flanked by tougher criminal laws. This includes, for example, the rule “ three strikes and you are out ”, which was applied to both serious and light crimes.

effect

The principle of punishing even the smallest violations , especially in areas with urban decay and a high crime rate, met with a controversial response in the USA. While the proponents attested it considerable success, critics showed negative effects: Success agreements with the New York police created a competitive attitude within the police apparatus, which led to a loss of corporate identity . The crackdown also brought civil rights activists onto the scene, who saw the zero tolerance strategy as a step towards a police state .

The number of murder cases in New York fell to a fifth from the 1970s to 2009, from 2000 to around 400. This clearly statistically significant decrease is also attributed by its proponents to the zero tolerance strategy in the 1990s.

However, comparative studies showed that there was not only a drastic decline in crime in New York . Both at the level of different US states and in a comparison of major US cities, crime rates have fallen by more than half since the early 1990s. A zero tolerance strategy had only a small impact here, if at all.

The New York model was developed and implemented in the early 1990s. It has now been shown to be a period of high crime in most of the western world . Since then, crime rates have fallen in most countries, not just in the western world. However, the real cause of the decline in crime has not yet been fully and satisfactorily clarified.

Zero tolerance policy regarding immigration

literature

  • Gunther Dreher and Thomas Feltes : The New York Model. Crime prevention through "Zero tolerance"? Contributions to the current criminal policy discussion . Felix, Holzkirchen 1997, ISBN 3-927983-12-8 .
  • Helmut Ortner (ed.): New York "Zero Tolerance" Policy . Nomos-Verlags-Gesellschaft, Baden-Baden 1998, ISBN 3-7890-5374-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. KrimLEX, Kriminologie-Lexikon ONLINE, Lemma: Zero-Tolerance , accessed on September 1, 2015
  2. a b Michael Tonry: Why Crime Rates Are Falling Throughout the Western World . In: Crime & Justice . tape 43 , no. 1 , 2014, p. 17th ff ., doi : 10.1086 / 678181 (English, alternative full text access : scholarship.law.umn.edu ).
  3. ^ M. Gladwell: The Tipping Point, New York 2000, p. 146
  4. ^ News from Schweizer Radio DRS from December 29, 2009
  5. Michael Tonry: Why Crime Rates Are Falling Throughout the Western World . In: Crime & Justice . tape 43 , no. 1 , 2014, p. 1–2 , doi : 10.1086 / 678181 (English, alternative full text access : scholarship.law.umn.edu ).