Leadership, autobiography by Rudolph Giuliani: on Crime

Rudy Giuliani: Banished "squeegee men": civility from treating small crimes

That's how the idea for addressing the squeegee man problem appeared. There were men who would wander up to a car stopped in traffic, spray the windshield, & wipe it down. After the unsolicited "cleaning," the man would request payment.

My belief was that treating small crimes was a way to establish lawful, civil behavior & a feeling of safety. The police chief said we lacked a legal basis to move them as long as they were not threatening drivers or demanding money. I said, how about that they are jaywalking. When they stepped off the curb they violated the law. Then, in giving them tickets, you could investigate whether there were outstanding warrants & so on.

In under a month, we reduced the problem dramatically. New Yorkers loved it & so did all the visitors who brought money into the city

Rudy Giuliani: Community policing is comforting but doesn't stop crime

The reality is that community policing does not stop crime. There are only so many police officers any city can afford. Once a certain quantity of them are committed to standing on a corner in every neighborhood, the number who can deployed to higher crime areas or added to task forces targeting specific problems is reduced. Another problem:it's not only law-abiding citizens who are reassured by knowing where this visible new police presence is. Criminals get a big kick out of the predictable, daytime beats of community police officers