Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

On September 7, 2016, four of the nation’s newspapers of record weighed in on the connected crises in crime and policing. The New York Times revealed the tensions between the Mayor’s office in Chicago and several community and professional groups over a plan to overhaul Chicago’s police disciplinary board – a plan developed in the wake of the shooting of an unarmed teenager, Laquan McDonald, and the release of a video of that killing. The Wall Street Journal related a vigorous defense of New York City’s “broken windows” policing strategy – a strategy that has been a recurring source of tension between the city’s minority communities and the police, and whose value in crime reduction has been sharply debated. The Washington Post’s lead editorial decried Chicago’s “deadliest month in two decades” that left city officials at odds over the basic elements of public safety policy and strategic responses to the seemingly intractable violence. The Chicago Tribune weighed in as well. In it, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson declared that the crisis is “not a police issue, it’s a society issue,” pointing to the need for stricter gun controls.

Disciplines

Criminal Law | Law | Law Enforcement and Corrections

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