Last three years show there’s still plenty left to do
The shootings continued and the country erupted.
Still, these murders are more anecdotal and Sharkey relies heavily on numbers and studies.
Citing reports on different cities around the country and different methods of policing around the world, Sharkey maintains “the decline in violence is real and it has transformed American life.”
He credits the “transformation of public space” as a chief reason for the renaissance of cities. Once people feel safer, they will emerge from their homes and stay outside rather than scurry from their apartments to work and school. And they will spend time getting to know their neighbors.
Sharkey, after studying the various plans to help inner cities over the decades, wonders how government can accept “warrior policing” when it has left so many dead in the streets.
He advocates changing the way policing has historically been done. Cops should be evaluated not only by crime rates but on surveys of citizens. Do they feel victimized? Are they afraid of the police?
Sharkey suggests cities begin collecting information that goes way beyond arrests and crime statistics, including 911 calls, hospital admissions and community sentiment.
His suggestion is to shift from warriors to guardians: “Perhaps it is time to create a new entity to protect and serve communities, one that is created from the community.”
These guardians would not necessarily be police, not at least in the way most of us think of law enforcement.
In England and Wales, the people doing this work are dubbed community wardens; in France, they’re known as social mediation agents.
Sharkey went out with some guardians in Perth, Australia, where Aboriginals patrol their neighborhoods overnight. They are locals who know the kids and have deep roots in the community. The women patrolling stopped fights before they began and helped sick people get care.
This made the author consider how similar, more empathetic patrols could work in America. He wondered if the atmosphere might change if community leaders ventured into public spaces to enforce the standards of behavior. And he suggested paying these people wages commensurate with the value their presence generates for the city or community.
Sure, there are plenty of community watches but these were different, he says. And it would be a seismic change.
“We have relied on warriors to control urban streets for the past several decades; it’s now time to turn the streets over to the advocates,” he argues.
And maybe set the clock back three years.