The Last Neighborhood Cops: The Rise and Fall of Community Policing in New York Public Housing

by Professor Fritz Umbach

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE <![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> <![endif]--> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {"Cambria Math"; 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face { 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; 1073786111 9 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { ""; %; "Calibri","sans-serif"; "Times New Roman"; } .MsoChpDefault { "Times New Roman"; } .MsoPapDefault { %;} @page WordSection1 { 11.0in; 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; } div.WordSection1 {} --> <!--[if gte mso 10]> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {"Table Normal"; ""; 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; %; "Calibri","sans-serif"; "Times New Roman"; "Times New Roman"; } <![endif]--> In recent years, community policing has transformed American law enforcement by promising to build trust between citizens and officers. Today, three-quarters of American police departments claim to embrace the strategy. But decades before the phrase was coined, the New York City Housing Authority Police Department (HAPD) had pioneered community-based crime-fighting strategies.

The Last Neighborhood Cops reveals the forgotten history of the residents and cops who forged community policing in the public housing complexes of New York City during the second half of the twentieth century. Through a combination of poignant storytelling and historical analysis, Fritz Umbach draws on buried and confidential police records and voices of retired officers and older residents to help explore the rise and fall of the HAPD’s community-based strategy, while questioning its tactical effectiveness. The result is a unique perspective on contemporary debates of community policing and historical developments chronicling the influence of poor and working-class populations on public policy making.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2010