Small Crimes, Big Results

Here’s another reminder why the campaign by Speaker Melissa MarkViverito and her City Council acolytes to decriminalize qualityoflife offenses is such a foolish mistake. Early Sunday morning, within just a threehour period, cops nabbed two men jumping subway turnstiles in two separate incidents. Both were carrying loaded illegal guns. MarkViverito would have police simply issue a citation for turnstile jumpers. In that case, cops never would’ve found the loaded .380 Walther in Joseph Aponte’s bag at the IRT 59th St. station.

Or the loaded Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver police said was tucked in the waistband of Coleman Reader’s pants at the Nostrand Avenue station in BedStuy.

That’s precisely how Broken Windows po licing, which Commissioner Bill Bratton first introduced more than two decades ago, is supposed to work. It’s designed to stop more serious crimes by getting thugs off the street — and the subways — while they’re committing “minor” crimes, before they graduate to more serious ones.

Last April, for example, police caught another turnstile jumper who not only had a similarly loaded — and illegal — .357 Magnum, but also a quantity of crack and a record of seven prior arrests.

It’s the difference between proactive policing — working to prevent crimes before they occur — and reactive, stepping in to solve crimes only after they’re committed.

That’s the difference between a safer city and a more dangerous one. It’s a difference the City Council desperately needs to learn.