Introduction
Turnaround: How America’s Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic (1998) is a book that was written by William Bratton and co-authored by Peter Knobler. The book details the police strategies that made the New York City police, led by Bratton, to win the war against crime. It also gives a brief peek into Bratton’s early life, previous policing employments, and an assessment of Modern American policing.
Bratton had been appointed police commissioner of the New York City police in 1994 and twenty seven months later, he had reduced crime levels by amazing margins: violent crime fell by 33 percent while murder rates reduced by half. This achievement earned Bratton the title of the “Most Charismatic and Respected Law Enforcement Official in America”.
A Summary
William Bratton grew up in Boston and had always aspired to be a cop. He began his policing career in Boston Police Department, where he initiated community policing and made the city’s subway system free of crime (Bratton, 1998). When Bratton moved to the New York City Police Department (NYPD), he began by stamping out lesser offenses using the theory that individuals who commit crimes that are more serious secretly also commit lesser ones (Broken Windows Theory). The results of his initiatives were quite evident as crime levels fell by 10 percent annually during his short tenure at the helm of NYPD.
Bratton and his fellows at the NYPD employed computer mapping to identify areas that experienced high crime levels, and then made use of all resources available in the police to fight these crimes.
One of the strategies used was “quality of life enforcement”, a strategy that entailed fighting lesser offences such as panhandling and prostitution to make the streets seem uninviting to serious criminals. Bratton demanded accountability from police commanders in all regions within his jurisdiction and made it mandatory for the commanders to report on the development and challenges in their districts. (Bratton, 1998).
Critical Analysis
Turnaround gives a detailed description of the Bratton’s leadership and management acts that made drastic reductions in crime rates and improved the safety of the subway system and the streets. What strikes most about the book is the author’s separation of the linkage between the economic and social aspects of the society and their association to crime rates.
That is, he fought crime while telling his fellow police officers that crime was caused by “bad guys”, and not just by economic factors, unemployment, and general social conditions (Bratton, 1998). Once he separated those aspects, he was able to use organizational and human performance theories, together with strong financial support, to fight crimes, both serious and minor. He used technological tools in obtaining information, besides, he lobbied for more resources, gave incentives to his juniors and civilians, and selected and trained policemen on proactive methods of combating crime.
Many people will attribute Bratton’s achievements to other factors such as a national reduction in crime levels, however, it must be mentioned that prior to his arrival in NYPD, crime levels in New York City exceeded the national mean (Kelling & Bratton, 1998). Besides, New York City has such a large population that it contributes considerably to the national crime average, therefore, a reduction in crime levels in NYC is reflected in the nation’s mean.
A survey of cities such as Washington DC and South Carolina will prove that not all cities recorded a reduction in crime when Bratton was commissioner at NYPD. Hence, Bratton’s strategies must have played a considerable part in crime reduction (Kelling & Bratton, 1998).
Bratton outlines some fundamental ideas that can be used in criminology and leadership. To begin with, large organizations- government agencies, army, and police- are likely to become monumental and exclusive, i.e. persons belonging to these institutions must continually examine the external world to take up the best ideas and practices available in order to prevent a decline and collapse as society transforms around them. Secondly, modern American society can be intrigued and coerced by change and innovation.
To have one’s ideas accepted and make the people doing the work give their full participation, one can sell the proposals packaged as fresh ideas even if they are more evolutionary than innovatory. Finally, Bratton did quite a bit of damage to NYC and NYPD as a result of his ego, partly because the book was designed to help him public speaking and consulting firm he had established soon after leaving NYPD.
Conclusion
The language used in this book is stern and informal as expected of a law enforcement officer turned author, however, it is written with adequate balance and can be easily used as a reference book in criminology classes. Having read other criminal justice books such as Terrorism and Homeland Security (2005) and Introduction to Policing (2009), Turnaround gives a succinct explanation of policing strategies that can be used by police forces around the world, unlike other books that were limited to specific countries.
Persons interested in criminology, leadership, or the history of contemporary NYC will find Bratton’s Turnaround useful, and it exceeds other criminology books in applicability of ideas and originality.
References
Bratton, W. J. (1998). Turnaround: How America’s Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic. NY: Random House.
Kelling, G. L. and Bratton, W. J. (1998). Declining Crime Rates: Insider’s Views of the New York City Story. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 88, No. 4. 1217-1232.