New York Murder Mystery: The True Story Behind the Crime Crash of the 1990s

by Andrew Karmen

Overview

Andrew Karmen tracks a quarter century of murder in the city Americans have most commonly associated with rampant street crime. Providing both a local and a national context for New York's plunging crime rate, Karmen tests and debunks the many self-serving explanations for the decline. While crediting a more effective police force for its efforts, Karmen also emphasizes the decline of the crack epidemic, skyrocketing incarceration rates, favorable demographic trends, a healthy economy, an influx of hard working and law abiding immigrants, a rise in college enrollment, and an unexpected outbreak of improved behavior by young men growing up in poverty stricken neighborhoods. New York Murder Mystery is the most authoritative study to date of why crime rates rise and fall.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814763728
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Andrew Karmen is Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is the author of New York Murder Mystery: The True Story Behind the Crime Crash of the 1990s (NYU, 2000) and Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology, Tenth Edition (Cengage, 2019).

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations1 The 1990s Crime Crash in New York2 Deconstructing Murders 3 NYPD or Not NYPD: That Is the Question 4 Behind Bars? 5 The Drug-Crime Connection 6 It’s the Economy, Stupid! Or Is It? Did the Boom Cause the Crash?7 Where Have All the Criminals Gone? Did Favorable Demographic Trends Facilitate the Crash?
8 Lessons from the New York ExperienceNotesAppendix References Name Index Subject Index About the Author 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Karmen has written a book that anyone interested in the New York City crime story should read. Nobody has written about the NYC drop in crime more comprehensively or more even-handedly. This book assesses a complicated story with an air of confidence and produces a convincing analysis. Those who think they already know the story are bound to be surprised by what they read here, and those who want to draw policy conclusions for New York's experience will find Karmen’s reliable analysis helps them avoid some of the pitfalls in the cyclical fads of criminal justice reform.”
-Todd R. Clear,President of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

“New York Murder Mystery is long overdue. It provides a well-written, illuminating analysis of an issue often subject to self-serving and simplistic sound-bites. Guided by Karmen’s thoughtful and thorough presentation, we come to understand all the factors contributing to the last decade's crime drop. We learn to credit not only new police tactics, demographics declines, and a prosperous economy but also the many thousands of youth who practiced wisdom and discipline in avoiding the self-defeating behavior patterns of their older friends and relatives.”
-Robert Gangi,Executive Director, The Correctional Association

“With this elegant sweep, the author has parted the curtain to reveal a gaseous windbag behind the bombast attending the miraculous claims of today's wizards. Bravo.”
-Tony Bouza, Law Enforcement News

“Systematically debunks popularly accepted reasons for the crime crash by wedding closely analyzed statistical data with common sense and historical precedent. . . . After reading this book, one thing becomes certain: today's New York isn't what it used to be.”
-Villager

Editorial Reviews

In the 1990s, New Yorkers were being murdered at a rate of over 2,200 a year. By the end of the decade, the body count had plunged by more than two-thirds. Using data about patterns, trends, and statistical associations over the past two decades, the author's research uncovers the reasons behind the "crime crash." Providing both a local and national context for the city's plunging crime rate, Karmen (sociology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York) debunks the many self-serving explanations for the decline. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"Systematically debunks popularly accepted reasons for the crime crash by wedding closely analyzed statistical data with common sense and historical precedent. . . . After reading this book, one thing becomes certain: today's New York isn't what it used to be."

Villager

"With this elegant sweep, the author has parted the curtain to reveal a gaseous windbag behind the bombast attending the miraculous claims of today's wizards. Bravo."

Law Enforcement News - Tony Bouza

"Karmen has written a book that anyone interested in the New York City crime story should read. Nobody has written about the NYC drop in crime more comprehensively or more even-handedly. This book assesses a complicated story with an air of confidence and produces a convincing analysis. Those who think they already know the story are bound to be surprised by what they read here, and those who want to draw policy conclusions for New York's experience will find Karmens reliable analysis helps them avoid some of the pitfalls in the cyclical fads of criminal justice reform."

Todd R. Clear

"New York Murder Mystery is long overdue. It provides a well-written, illuminating analysis of an issue often subject to self-serving and simplistic sound-bites. Guided by Karmens thoughtful and thorough presentation, we come to understand all the factors contributing to the last decade's crime drop. We learn to credit not only new police tactics, demographics declines, and a prosperous economy but also the many thousands of youth who practiced wisdom and discipline in avoiding the self-defeating behavior patterns of their older friends and relatives."

Robert Gangi

With this elegant sweep, the author has parted the curtain to reveal a gaseous windbag behind the bombast attending the miraculous claims of today's wizards. Bravo.”
-Tony Bouza, Law Enforcement News

“Systematically debunks popularly accepted reasons for the crime crash by wedding closely analyzed statistical data with common sense and historical precedent. . . . After reading this book, one thing becomes certain: today's New York isn't what it used to be.”
• Villager

“New York Murder Mystery is long overdue. It provides a well-written, illuminating analysis of an issue often subject to self-serving and simplistic sound-bites. Guided by Karmen’s thoughtful and thorough presentation, we come to understand all the factors contributing to the last decade's crime drop. We learn to credit not only new police tactics, demographics declines, and a prosperous economy but also the many thousands of youth who practiced wisdom and discipline in avoiding the self-defeating behavior patterns of their older friends and relatives.”
-Robert Gangi,Executive Director, The Correctional Association

“Karmen has written a book that anyone interested in the New York City crime story should read. Nobody has written about the NYC drop in crime more comprehensively or more even-handedly. This book assesses a complicated story with an air of confidence and produces a convincing analysis. Those who think they already know the story are bound to be surprised by what they read here, and those who want to draw policy conclusions for New York's experience will find Karmen’s reliable analysis helps them avoid some of the pitfalls in the cyclical fads of criminal justice reform.”
-Todd R. Clear,President of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences

From the Publisher