Ray Mallon and 'zero tolerance'

Pioneered by the New York Police Department, the "zero tolerance" approach,
or "positive policing" as some prefer to call it, is how the British
Government is hoping to fulfil its promise to be "tough on crime".

Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon, who has been suspended as head of
Middlesborough CID, has been the most colourful advocate of this strategy
in Britain.

Last year he famously promised to quit if he failed to cut crime on his
patch by 20% in 18 months gaining him the nickname 'Robocop'.

Although 'zero tolerance' has wide political and popular support, it has
far from universal support among other UK police forces.

It is also questionable as to whether it was this approach, or some other
factor, which was responsible for the recent falls in crime in New York and
elsewhere.

What is 'zero tolerance'?

The precise origins of term are obscure, but it has become associated with
policing techniques used most famously in New York City and other parts of
North America. It has been used in the UK in the King's Cross area of
London, Hartlepool, Middlesborough and Strathclyde.

The strategy is based on the 'Broken Windows' theory first developed by
two American academics, George Kelling and James Wilson, in 1983. According
to their theory, there is a link between disorder and crime a view shared
by Labour politicians. The thesis goes: visible signs of decay litter,
broken windows, graffiti, abandoned housing signals public disinterest.
Fear of crime is greatest in these disorderly neighbourhoods which prompts
'respectable' community members to leave. This undermines the community's
ability to maintain order and decline follows.

Reasoning that it is easier to prevent a neighbourhood's slide into crime
at the beginning rather than trying to rescue it once the slide has taken
hold, the theory demands that even the most minor misdemeanours must be
pursued with the same vigour as more serious crimes to create a deterrent
effect.

What are initial results of the strategy?

Figures for New York have been well trumpeted. Since 1993, major crime in
that city has fallen by 39% and murder has fallen by 49%. In the UK,
results have been similar. Det Super Mallon managed to deliver on his
promise cut crime by a fifth in 18 months figures for the three months to
February 1997 showed a 22% fall.

Det Super Mallon also achieved these kinds of results in his previous job
in Hartlepool where he oversaw a reduction in crime of 38% in 28 months.

In London, 81% of residents of King's Cross say they feel safer thanks to
the Metropolitan Police's "Operation Zero Tolerance" which targeted petty
crime around King's Cross station.

Criticisms of 'zero tolerance'

1. There are negative consequences of aggressive policing:

A 29yearold man choked to death when a police officer in New York
arrested him for participating in a game of street football. In the
subsequent homicide trial of the arresting officer, the defence claimed the
officer was "simply following orders to focus on quality of life crimes
such as loitering". This prompted criticism that police had become too
aggressive in handling petty offences.

2. There are other explanations for falling crime in New York:

•Fewer people are taking violenceinducing crack cocaine and are instead
turning to more soporific heroin. •Some claim that the fall is the happy
byproduct of demographic change. The peak ages for offending are the
teenage years and the numbers of this group have fallen. •Many of the
people who were responsible for perpetrating the majority of violent or
other crimes in the 1980s and early 90s are now in prison. •New York hired
7,000 new police recruits to pursue 'zero tolerance' when it already had
twice as many police per head as Britain. 3. Crime has also fallen in areas
without 'zero tolerance' policing:

Crime has fallen significantly in areas where different policing methods
have been used. In San Diego, since 1993 murders have fallen by 41%,
robberies by 36% and burglaries and vehiclerelated crime by over 40%.

These results followed the building of partnerships between police and the
public. Emphasis being placed on resolving problems longterm, working with
other agencies and organisations, galvanising people to join in residents'
associations, setting up partnerships with the Housing Commission to evict
problem residents and redesigning public areas to reduce crime.

4. The longterm effects are unknown:

•'Zero tolerance' works well in densely populated areas with relatively
high policing levels and large amounts of petty crime. However, where the
population is more dispersed or the crime rate is already relatively low,
it may have little effect. •In areas of high racial tension, the policy
might leave locals feeling victimised. •The original proponents of the
'Broken Windows' theory argue that police must be sensitive to community
and local experience.

5. There is too much emphasis on performance indicators:

Some police are critical of the way performance is judged by the number of
crime reports taken, warrants executed, street searches carried out and
arrests. They argue this discounts policing priorities established in
consultation with local communities or how responsive officers were to
crime victims. Charles Pollard, the Chief Constable of Thames Valley
Police, is a vocal sceptic of the strategy. He argues that the fall in
crime could be more apparent than real if police are tempted to manipulate
statistics in the drive to meet targets.

6.'Zero Tolerance' is only one part of wider strategy:

Although falls in crime have been attributed to 'zero tolerance', other
strategies have also played an important role. For example, some emphasise
the role of 'Compstat' new computer software which produces weekly crime
statistics for small geographical areas. The figures are examined in detail
at weekly meetings in which chiefs of department question colleagues on
their investigations. Many say this has a galvanising effect on officers
and produces more focused policing.