Quality-of-Life Policing: Lessons learned from the USA and Europe

• In Event: POLWG Panel 21. Evaluating Policing Practice: Police Use of Force and Authority

Abstract

In the mid-1990's, the New York City Police Department initiated a strategy of aggressive enforcement against quality-of-life offenses. The resulting arrests were for offenses of misdemeanor or lesser severity. This new policing approach and the subsequent experiences the NYPD gained from the QOL Policing strategies it implemented have served as an example for other police forces worldwide.
This study focuses on how the quality-of-life policing has evolved in NYC, how it was implemented as part of an anti-crime strategy, and the major lessons learned. Moreover, given that New York City’s (NYC) experiences in the field of QOL Policing have triggered the interest of academics and practitioners across the world, endorsed by some and opposed by others, this study will examine how QOF Policing has influenced other policing programs across the globe and how this strategy was implemented in different cultural and political environments, mainly in Europe and Police Forces that follow a more centralized model that the USA LEAs. In this context, the present and the future of QOL Policing initiatives and strategies will be thoroughly discussed. Last but not least, the effectiveness of this approach will be examined from a comparative perspective, and several potential policy recommendations will be thoroughly analyzed.

Authors

• NIKOLAOS (NICK) PETROPOULOS, JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

• Maria Haberfeld, John Jay College of Criminal Justice