Understanding New Yorks Crime Drop

This book explores New York Citys historic crime drop over the past quarter of a century. New York Citys dramatic crime decline is a real brainteaser: no one predicted it and, as of yet, no one has explained it, at least to the satisfaction of most social scientists who study crime trends. Three strategic lessons emerge from the contributions to this volume on New Yorks crime drop. It is suggested that future research should: go wide by putting New York in comparative context, nationally and internationally; go long by putting New Yorks recent experience in historical context; develop a strong ground game by investigating New Yorks crime drop across multiple spatial units, down to the street segment. The contributors to Understanding New Yorks Crime Drop aim to provoke expanded and sustained attention to crime trends in New York and elsewhere. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal, Justice Quarterly.