Reinforcing New York City`s improved policing strategies in the 1990s were tougher sentencing laws and a significant expansion of the city and state correctional systems. Would-be criminals in the Big Apple came to realize that they were not only more likely to get caught, but more likely to end up serving hard time. The results have been nothing less than spectacular: by one key measure, serious crime in the city has dropped 70 % over the past 15 years. But that success is also yielding another, less widely noticed, dividend.
Read Original at: City Journal