 |
 June 12, 1999 |
| RIRA President's
Column by Patrick Stewart | |
| My wife, Karen, had an
interesting conversation at the recent Career Day at PS/IS 217 with
a New York City Police Detective, who was there to speak to the kids
about his work. At the luncheon following the event, the Detective
was talking to his lunch mates about his initial reaction to Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani's initiative on Quality-of-Life crimes. He said
that, at the time, he thought the initiative was just plain silly.
Here he was "up to his knees in bodies" and Giuliani was
worrying about boom boxes.
But he went on to say that he had been proven wrong, and that he, and other "hard-nosed old-liners" in the Police Department had come to see the efficacy of the Quality-of-Life push, and that they were willing to credit the general drop in crime levels to the stricter enforcement of minor crimes. He said it seemed that, in communities that were willing to tolerate minor infractions with no penalties, it was easier for the perpetrators of those minor infractions to escalate into more serious difficulties. |
 Karen Stewart |
| This was a casual conversation amongst a few participants in the Career Day event. It was not an official pronouncement, but more an "owning up" of a guy who had had his mind changed against the odds, and was surprised at the outcome. As it happened, there was not a teacher present to overhear the conversation, but had there been, it's likely the teacher would not have been surprised. As a one-time professional soldier, I am certainly not surprised. | |
| Actually, it doesn't much matter whether it's a Cub Scout outing
or the City of New York. The rules are the rules. When the rules are
applied equally across the board, and everyone knows what they are,
and the penalties for any infraction are seen as inevitable for
anyone and everyone, the rules tend to be obeyed.
It is human nature to try to get away with as much as you can, and equally human nature to learn pretty quickly what you can get away with and what you can't. Our laws are pretty clear-cut. There are certainly enough of them. And the laws of the City of New York apply as equally on Roosevelt Island as they do in Manhattan or the Bronx. But the law enforcement is not the same. Not the same at all. Governor Pataki ran on the same Law-and-Order platform that Giuliani did, and never fails to bring it up at any speaking engagement. It is surprising to me that his management here has been so unresponsive to this issue, that this community, under his direct protection, should feel they must seek protection from the City. RIOC regularly states that the Island is a crime-free community. The residents know better. Since the residents can see that Public Safety, for whatever reason, has no direction to pursue the crimes that are evident even to the casual watcher, what are we to believe about the crime we cannot see? |
 Patrick Stewart |
| In this community, even the victims of crimes
themselves must apply through the Freedom of Information Laws to
find if an incident has been processedif it has actually happened in
the eyes of Public Safety.
The high season of Quality-of-Life crimes is upon us once again. Perhaps it would help if Public Safety posted signs publicly reminding the community what the New York City regulations are about undue noise, loitering, drug sales, public drunkenness, bicycle riding, littering and the other issues that become more prevalent and intrusive with the return of fine weather. It certainly would help that there be better posting of the 15-mile-per-hour speed limiton Main Street than the single rusted-over sign that is no longer even readable. But nothing will help until the decision is made to enforce the laws that already exist; to see the crime before one's eyes, and to do something about it. And am I to say nothing of Jerry Blue and his departure? Were I a more politic man I surely would say nothing at all. The consequences, fiscal and otherwise, of Blue's tenure will be with us for some time to come, and Robert Ryan surely faces a job of work. But I personally owe Jerry Blue a debt of gratitude. I have gained a deeper respect for principles of American government that I had largely left unexamined in any real pragmatic way, principles that work as they were designed to work when the community is committed to making them work for the good of the community. Without Blue I would not have come to know this community so well, and I would not value it so dearly. It is fair to say that most of us have spoken at least once about RIOC to a neighbor to whom otherwise we might never have spoken at all. Many of us have learned of capacities in ourselves, and in our neighbors, that we did not know were there until they needed to be exercised. We certainly have learned a little more about what's worth fighting for, and why. We have become more of a true community, a better community, and certainly a stronger community. Jerry Blue leaves us far better equipped to shape the future of our community. All that being said, I wish Jerry well in his future endeavors. | |
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