Fare beaters who hopped over grimy subway turnstiles back in the early 1990s were the first targets of a policing strategy that went after the smallest offenses and was credited with helping to drive crime down to record lows.
So now, a new policy to halt the prosecution of turnstile jumpers in Manhattan has some city officials and riders questioning it as a foolhardy turning back of the clock.
Going after fare beaters was a pillar of the “Broken Windows” theory implemented in the early 1990s. It argued that ignoring smaller quality-of-life crimes only cleared the way for bigger ones to happen. Critics said the strategy became a pretense to unfairly target poor minorities.
Read the complete article at http://pix11.com/2018/02/11/turnstile-jumpers-wont-be-taken-to-jail-anymore-in-manhattan/
