The Morning: Police and the alternatives

Both can reverse America's murder spike.

View in browser|nytimes.com March 6, 2022 First, a news update: President Vladimir Putin of Russia said any nation that imposed a no-fly zone would be considered an enemy combatant. President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukrainians to resist, as Mariupol residents described the city as becoming "unfit for human life." Find more details below and on The Times's website. By German Lopez Good morning. Murders have spiked in the U.S., and experts say a mix of solutions works best. Police officers in North Camden, N.J.Todd Heisler/The New York Times A false choice Debates over crime reduction are often binary, pitting the police against alternative approaches. President Biden got bipartisan applause at his State of the Union speech this past week when he declared, "The answer is not to defund the police. It's to fund the police." But it is actually not an either-or between law enforcement or other options. Biden made that clear, pushing against a false choice "between safety and equal justice." Both sides work best together, experts said: Policing stops violence in the short term, while other social services offer ways out of a life of crime over the longer run. "You want to invest in policing — in proper policing," said Jamein Cunningham, a criminal justice expert at Cornell University. "But you have all these other areas that need to be addressed," he added, citing poverty and lack of access to education as contributors to crime. More focused policing — targeting the people, places and problems that disproportionately contribute to violence — is effective. In 2009, violent crime fell in Philadelphia after officials deployed foot patrols to high-crime areas. Targeted policing strategies in dozens of other cities have produced similar results. Alternative approaches to reducing crime have worked, too. Summer job programs consistently lower criminal activity among participants; one in New York City reaches 75,000 young people each year. A Philadelphia program that turned vacant public spaces into parklike settings reduced shootings, burglaries and crime overall. Although it has gotten less attention amid news of Covid, inflation and war in Ukraine, the U.S. is enduring a spike in homicides. The country's murder rate last year reached its highest point in a quarter-century. So far in 2022, murders in U.S. cities, including New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, are up even more overall, according to the crime analyst Jeff Asher. Elevated levels of violence may not be a pandemic-induced blip. Americans seem worried: 51 percent of adults in 2021 said they believed more crime was happening in their area, up from 38 percent in 2020, Gallup found. A comprehensive response to this problem would cost potentially billions of dollars nationwide — more than some cities and counties can pay for, at least without federal support. But any action, experts say, could make a difference. Better policing Policing, in general, reduces crime and violence. Every addition of 10 officers prevents one homicide, a study found. The effect on the number of Black people killed is twice that. But policing as it is widely practiced now also carries grave costs, including harassment, wrongful arrests and deaths, which disproportionately hurt minority communities. The best policing approaches focus on the slivers of city blocks and other places where crime and violence often break out, known as "hot spots." They comprehensively take on underlying problems contributing to crime, like drugs, guns and housing. They target repeat offenders. In much of the country, such strategies require a rethinking of policing, leaving behind more confrontational and sweeping tactics. Those aggressive approaches are largely ineffective — and they can backfire, turning communities against the police. Eugene, Ore., has handled service calls without involving the police.Chris Pietsch/Register-Guard, via USA Today Network Other solutions Non-policing strategies can complement law enforcement, particularly programs that help people lead healthy, productive lives. "If we hopefully bring the right package and right resources to other social programs, we can have similar or better effects at lower costs and let police focus on doing a more limited job well," said Sara Heller, a University of Michigan economist who has studied non-policing solutions. Early interventions, like preschool programs, seem to reduce arrests later in life. Initiatives for adolescents, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, can reduce crime and violence. Some programs that help people of all ages, including addiction treatment, also appear to help. Some successful measures focus on improving people's environments. Installing more street lighting helps fight crime. So does reducing access to alcohol and guns. The effects of single interventions on crime are usually modest. And some, like violence interrupters, are inconsistent. But many programs have other benefits; getting children into a high-quality preschool or drug users into treatment has value beyond crime-fighting. Striking a balance Policing appears to work best in the short term, generating reductions in crime that are nearly immediate but level off over time. The alternative approaches can take longer to work, but their effects can last for years. Between the 1990s and the 2010s, America's murder rate fell by more than half. The variety of credible explanations for the decline suggests that no single factor was solely responsible. It was a mix: more and better policing, the end of the crack epidemic, reduced exposure to lead, video games keeping kids indoors and out of trouble, and more. The balanced approach worked then. For an inherently grim problem, that history is a reason for hope. For more Moderate Democrats are increasingly embracing a balanced approach to crime-fighting. Carjackings are up. Teens may be behind the increase. Brooklyn's progressive prosecutor has taken on public safety and criminal justice reforms without the political backlash his peers have faced. U.S. cities have not, generally, cut police funding. NEWS Russia-Ukraine War A Ukrainian sniper preparing his American-donated rifle in Kyiv yesterday.Lynsey Addario for The New York Times Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that sanctions imposed by the West were "akin to a declaration of war." Russian forces continued shelling near the first routes protected for Ukrainians to flee, apparently violating an hours-old cease-fire. U.S. military veterans are traveling to Ukraine to join the fight. Cultural institutions are pressing Russian artists to distance themselves from Putin. Germans are donating money, offering rooms and volunteering to help Ukrainian refugees. Russia said it had detained the professional basketball star Brittney Griner after finding hashish oil in her luggage. Other Big Stories The liver transplant recipient Kimberly Cooley, left, with her mother, Linda, got the antibody drug Evusheld.Andrea Morales for The New York Times Most of the doses of Evusheld, a Covid-19 treatment to protect the vulnerable, are going unused. The criminal investigation by Manhattan prosecutors into Donald Trump collapsed over a disagreement about the merits of bringing a case. China detailed a plan to expand its economy, labeling stability its "top priority." On this week's "S.N.L.," hosted by the actor Oscar Isaac, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham led a "Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular." The Week Ahead The mayor of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, at city hall on Friday. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Ukrainian officials said they would meet with Russian diplomats for more discussions early this week. The Biden administration is urging Congress to pass a spending package before government funding expires on Friday. School mask requirements will lift for millions more students — in New York, Philadelphia and on the West Coast — this week. South Korea will hold a tightly contested presidential election on Wednesday. Officials set aside a window for people infected with Covid to vote. The Film Independent Spirit Awards are tonight, kicking off a run of Hollywood awards shows. FROM OPINION A deactivated missile site in South Dakota.Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency Ross Douthat: The U.S. should not escalate against a weaker, nuclear-armed Russian adversary. Anastasiia Lapatina: Ukrainian resistance takes surprising forms. Jane Coaston: Russia is cracking down on the media because it is terrified of what would happen if speech were freed from government restraints. The Sunday question: Should the West give Putin an offramp? Giving the Russian president ways to de-escalate — like pledging to lift sanctions if the fighting stops — could avert a drawn-out war, Liana Fix and Steven Keil argue in Defense One. Julia Ioffe thinks Putin's rhetoric suggests he would reject any such proposal. "What can you offer a man who wants to recolonize Ukraine and fold it into his totalitarian utopia?" she asks in Puck. Subscribe Today A subscription to The New York Times plays a vital role in making this reporting possible. We hope you will support Times journalism by becoming a subscriber today. MORNING READS Kimberly Waters, left, with customers.Dieu-Nalio Chéry for The New York Times Sunday Routine: A fragrance expert invites clients into her home to tour her perfume collection. Cheaper rent: You can negotiate for it. Here's how. Advice from Wirecutter: The best pepper mill is more than a century old. Airline miles: The best time to use them is now. Tech tip: Set your schedule in your phone's free calendar. Add a splash: Set up a home bar that will dazzle guests. BOOKS NoViolet Bulawayo.Zinyange Auntony for The New York Times The cusp of revolution: Animal characters animate NoViolet Bulawayo's novel about a dictatorship. By the Book: Chekhov alone described life as it really is, the essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra says. Our editors' picks: "The Founders" by Jimmy Soni explores PayPal's origin story. Times best sellers: Lucy Foley's "The Paris Apartment" takes up residence in the top spot in hardcover fiction. See all our lists here. The Book Review podcast: Frank Bruni discusses his memoir about his stroke five years ago and how he dealt with it. What books shaped you?: Tell us for a live Twitter Spaces conversation this week. THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE On the cover: Domestic violence survivors can sustain head trauma more often than football players. But the injuries are almost never diagnosed. Recommendation: Buy a masterpiece on a budget. A poem: We lived happily during the war. Eat: A perfectly imperfect chocolate thumbprint cookie. Read the full issue. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here's a clue from the Sunday crossword: 22-Across: Desert whose soil has been compared to that of Mars Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines. Here's today's Wordle. Here's today's Spelling Bee. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — German Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti, Ashley Wu and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. 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