Trip Advisor once published the following review about Seattle:

“Why would ANYONE want to visit Seattle? Unfortunately, the city I grew up in is no longer a place I even want to visit. It is a city of trash, graffiti, drug use and homelessness. I do NOT recommend anyone visit  Seattle. It is on a downward spiral with ineffective government and unsafe streets.”

There is no dispute that homelessness, crime and graffiti have, for some time, “taken over” parts of Tacoma, areas along I-5 and significant parts of Seattle. Millions of tax dollars, state and federal, have been spent on the problem, but it is as bad  as it ever was. So, can and will anything be done to correct the situation or are we just going to have to suffer with it?

Perhaps there is New York to consider. It is hard to see Rudy Giuliani in any light but as a previously respected politician who became a national joke and embarrassment to himself.  He became a shallow man with little moral integrity and the hand puppet of Donald Trump acting as his ventriloquist. Married three times, his second wife found out her marriage was over on television- via a news conference. His failed marriages had the appearance of a soap opera as they unraveled in public. For some time his public image and conduct have been  the subject of comedians and gossip columnists

However, this was not always his public image. When Giuliani was elected mayor of New York in 1994, the city was a criminal and civic disaster.  Rudy Giuliani (full name Rudolph William Louis Giuliani) served as the 107th Mayor of New York from January 1, 1994 until December 31, 2001).  It’s been written that: “..in the 1970s, ’80s and early ’90s, New York was viewed as one of the world’s most dangerous metropolises — a cesspool of violence and danger. A city of being terrified to use the subway, of being mugged outside their apartments, and an overwhelming tide of junkies. Thirty-one one of every 100,000 New Yorkers were murdered each year, and 3,668 were victims of larceny. New York’s were not limited to a few inner-city neighborhoods that could be avoided. Bryant Park, in the heart of midtown and adjacent to the New York Public Library, was an open-air drug market; Grand Central Terminal, a gigantic flophouse; the Port Authority Bus Terminal, “a grim gauntlet for bus passengers dodging beggars, drunks, thieves, and destitute drug addicts,” as the New York Times put it in 1992. During this time, New York City was racked with crime: murders, burglaries, drug dealings, car thefts, thefts from cars. There were so many car radio thefts, car owners put  signs in car windows advising “no radio.” Riders abandoned the subway in droves, fearing assault from lunatics and gangs. Nathan Glazer first gave it voice in a 1979 Public Interest article, arguing that graffitists, other disorderly persons, and criminals “who rob, rape, assault, and murder passengers . . . are part of one world of uncontrollable predators.”

But, Rudy Giuliani s credited for bringing civic law and order to the city as mayor. Giuliani appointed William Bratton Police Commissioner. Under Bratton, the NYPD brought enormous capacities to bear on the city’s crime problem—particularly its tactical planning and accountability system. This system identified where crimes were occurring and held local police  commanders responsible for their areas. Giuliani and Bratton also gave the force’s members a clear vision of the “business” of the NYPD. These policies filtered down to—and inspired—line police officers, who had been previously largely ignored and underused. Bratton directed a crackdown on crime in New York. The police reforms introduced in New York City by William Bratton were hailed by Mayor Rudy Giuliani as  “zero-tolerance” policing, which involves the strict and aggressive enforcement of all laws.

Bratton also  introduced the “broken windows” theory. The premise was that a few more broken windows will lead to larger blights; so, fix the problems when they’re small. Minor criminal infractions were enforced. While the practice was controversial, When the transit cops started arresting people for fare-jumping, previously considered too penny-ante to worry about, they found that fare-jumpers often had rap sheets including more serious crimes. When street cops started arresting people for jay walking and traffic violations, general crime declined.

The mayor also announced a sweeping program to use more than a dozen city agencies to combat graffiti. The initiative ranges from establishing a 24-hour police telephone line to report graffiti vandalism to a new Cultural Affairs Department program in which murals would be used as alternative outlets of expression for graffiti artists. It was successful.

“A cleaner city is a safer city,” Mr. Giuliani said at a news conference. “That’s something that everyone instinctually understands. And something we have to make a big part of efforts to improve the quality of life in our city. In a big city like this all of us have to learn how to respect the rights and property of others.”

The mayor also took the position that the homeless had no right to sleep on the streets. Bratton declared they could be arrested if they refused shelter. Their remarks came three days after an office worker in Midtown Manhattan was critically injured in a random attack by a man the police say may have been homeless.  “Streets do not exist in civilized societies for the purpose of people sleeping there,’ the mayor said. ”Bedrooms are for sleeping.” He added that the right to sleep on the streets doesn’t exist anywhere. Random sleeping on the streets and homelessness declined as well as services were put in practice for assistance.

In 1985, the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City published a study showing widespread fear of theft and assault in downtown. However, by the 1990’s New York’s drop in crime was correspondingly astonishing—indeed, “one of the most remarkable stories in the history of urban crime,” according to University of California law professor Franklin Zimring. While other cities experienced major declines, none was as significant as New York’s. The mayor’s office reported this improvement as:

Between 1993 To 2001, New York City Experienced A 66% Decline in Murders

During The Same Time Period, There Was A 72% Decline in Shootings

Over A 7 Year Period Mayor Giuliani Added 12,000 Police Officers In New York City.

Whether the history of New York’s change is completely accurate or not, perhaps, there is hope for changes in Tacoma, along I-5 and in Seattle that would accomplish the same results with crime, graffiti and homelessness. What is apparent is that spending millions without a well thought out plan is not a solution to the problem. Furthermore, unless the politicians firmly deal with these issues, our corner of the Northwest will be no better off than the New York of the 1990’s.