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Street Stops And Broken Windows: Terry, Race, And Disorder In New York City, Jeffrey Fagan, Garth Davies Jan 2000

Street Stops And Broken Windows: Terry, Race, And Disorder In New York City, Jeffrey Fagan, Garth Davies

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article explores patterns of police "stop and frisk" activity across New York City neighborhoods. While “Broken Windows” theory may account for higher stop and frisk activity for “quality of life” crimes, the authors suggest neighborhood characteristics like racial composition, poverty levels, and extent of social disorganization are strong predictors of race- and crime-specific stops. The authors consider whether street-stops in various neighborhoods comply with the Terry standard of reasonable suspicion as insight into the social and strategic meaning of policing. Their empirical evidence suggests policing focuses on policing poor people in poor places. Their strategy departs from "Broken Windows" …


Transparent Adjudication And Social Science Research In Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Tracey L. Meares, Bernard Harcourt Jan 2000

Transparent Adjudication And Social Science Research In Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Tracey L. Meares, Bernard Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

The October 1999 Term was a year of consolidation in the law of police investigations in constitutional criminal procedure. In four short and compact opinions – three supported by sizeable majorities and three written by the Chief Justice – the Supreme Court synthesized and consolidated its criminal procedure jurisprudence, and offered clear guidance to law enforcement officers and private citizens alike. Miranda warnings are required by the Fifth Amendment, and the police must continue to "Mirandize" citizens before conducting any custodial interrogations. Reasonable suspicion under the Fourth Amendment calls for a totality-of-the-circumstances test, and a citizen's flight from the police …


Street Stops And Broken Windows: Terry, Race And Disorder In New York City, Jeffery Fagan, Garth Davies Jan 2000

Street Stops And Broken Windows: Terry, Race And Disorder In New York City, Jeffery Fagan, Garth Davies

Faculty Scholarship

Patterns of "stop and frisk" activity by police across New York City neighborhoods reflect competing theories of aggressive policing. "Broken Windows" theory suggest that neighborhoods with greater concentration of physical and social disorder should evidence higher stop and frisk activity, especially for "quality of life" crimes. However, although disorder theory informs quality of life policing strategies, patterns of stop and frisk activity suggest that neighborhood characteristics such as racial composition, poverty levels, and extent of social disorganization are stronger predictors of race- and crime-specific stops. Accordingly, neighborhood "street stop" activity reflects competing assumptions and meanings of policing strategy. Furthermore, looking …