> Overall, proactive enforcement activity — where police were affirmatively going out and making these stops and similar interventions — dropped by around 60 percent in these areas. These are impressive numbers, but I wonder: Where did the crime go? Were most of these merely crimes of opportunity which got eliminated, or did some other areas see a spike instead?
David Kennedy, author of "Don't Shoot", was on the radio talking about his approach. He said by closing the open drug markets in the street the drugs have to be traded in people's houses and the other elements aren't attracted to the area. He then said something like "You know what we used to call the places where drugs are sold quietly inside people's houses? The suburbs."
It's a really good book. Totally opened my mind that these problems are tractable so long as the typical dynamic of cops and clockers is put away in exchange for a focus on the community.