crime problems that affect them, became increas-
ingly popular. One of the ingredients of community-
oriented policing is the close involvement of police
officers with the communities to which they are as-
signed. As many police departments attempted to
increase officer contacts with citizens, the number
of police officers on the streets increased by approxi-
mately 11 percent in the United States over the de-
cade; in Canada, however, the number of officers de-
creased by 11 percent. If the ratio of police officers
to citizens affects the crime rates in communities,
then the United States should have experienced a
larger drop in crime than did Canada, but this was
not the case.
Technology had significant effects on policing
during the 1990’s as computers became more effi-
cient, affordable, and user-friendly. The use of com-
puters permitted law-enforcement agencies to cre-
ate shared databases and improve dispatching
efficiency; computerization also facilitated police
officers’ report writing and inquiries regarding crim-
inal records. These technological improvements
increased the effectiveness and efficiency of law-
enforcement agencies. They also allowed individual
law-enforcement agencies to become involved in
multiagency investigations and task forces. Such in-
teragency cooperation and sharing of information
further increased the effectiveness of law enforce-
ment.
In the 1990’s, New York Police Department
(NYPD) officials credited a new department ac-
countability process called Compstat (from “com-
puter statistics” or “comparative statistics”) with con-
tributing to reductions in crime throughout the city.
Compstat uses a management technique that de-
parts from the community-oriented policing model
that focuses on the street-level officer. With Comp-
stat, police department personnel at the middle-
management level are held responsible for what is
happening in their precincts. These managers com-
pare real-time crime statistics to identify crime hot
spots in their precincts and meet with agency admin-
istrators and other commanders to discuss openly
what they are doing that has been successful in re-
ducing crime as well as what they are doing or plan to
do in response to growing crime problems. Weekly
brainstorming meetings provide opportunities for
managers and officers to share information about
what has worked for them in particular situations.
This style of crime fighting emphasizes efforts such
as removing graffiti, maintaining the appearance of
neighborhoods, and enforcing laws concerning mi-
nor offenses, such as panhandling, to promote good
quality of life in communities and to show potential
criminals that citizens care about their neighbor-
hoods.
Police Commissioner William Bratton claimed
that the downward trend in crime in New York City
was the result of his management style and the use of
Compstat. He further asserted that the decrease in
crime in New York City had led to the national down-
turn in crime. Skeptics believed that part of the city’s
success could be explained by the 15 percent in-
crease in the number of police officers in New York
during the 1990’s. Whatever the cause of the de-
cline, Compstat began in the NYPD after Bratton be-
came commissioner in 1993. The use of Compstat
alone does not explain the downturn in crimes that
began in 1991, nor does it explain why other cities—
such as San Diego and San Jose, California, and Aus-
tin, Texas—experienced similar reductions in crime
without Compstat.
Could the increase in the number of police offi-
cers or the practice of community-oriented policing
explain the downward trend in crime rates seen in
the 1990’s? The actual decline began before Bill
Clinton’s presidential administration began in 1993.
One of President Clinton’s campaign promises
included placing 100,000 more police officers on
the streets of U.S. cities to develop the community-
policing ideal. By the end of Clinton’s presidency,
the numbers of officers had increased by approxi-
mately 40,000 to 60,000. Given that the decline in
crime rates had started long before these additional
officers were out enforcing the law, the increase in
the number of officers cannot explain the initial
drop in crime rates. However, this program may have
influenced the sustained decline in crime during
the 1990’s. As noted previously, crime rates in Can-
ada dropped as well during this period, although
that country actually experienced a decreased po-
lice presence.
Although increased police presence was not a fac-
tor in diminishing crime in Canada, it appears to
have been an influence in the United States. This
claim may be somewhat supported by the fact that
after President George W. Bush did away with
Clinton’s program, the dramatic declines in crime
rates seen in the 1990’s ceased.The Nineties in America Crime 229