Bratton critics call for ‘reexamination’ of Broken Windows
Azi Paybarah
At a series of rallies over the weekend, the Rev. Al Sharpton cast the death of Eric Garner on Staten Island as another chapter in an ongoing battle against police brutality.
But some critics of police commissioner Bill Bratton say Garner's death, which came as he was being arrested for allegedly selling loose cigarettes, should instead prompt a "reexamination" of Bratton's core strategy of Broken Windows policing.
“The academic evidence is clear,” said Brooklyn College sociologist Alex Vitale at an anti-Bratton rally outside City Hall on Monday. “There is very little support for the idea that Broken Windows policing in and of itself is responsible for the crime drop. The crime drop is a national and international phenomenon and it’s been happening in cities that never had Broken Windows policing.”
The rally was organized by a small group called “New Yorkers Against Bratton," which has called for Bratton's dismissal and a federal probe of the Garner case.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/07/8549326/bratton-critics-call-reexamination-broken-windows