prior violent felonies faces 20 years to life. A criminal who commits a Class A felony with two or more prior violent felonies faces a life sentence.

In addition to the "persistent offender" statute, New York City has instituted a zero tolerance policy. The police force is attempting to stop major crimes by aggressively attacking all crimes such as panhandling, solicitation and loitering. Additional resources have been expended on targeted areas and community-oriented-policing has been implemented."¹⁵

The New York City police force has increased over the past five years by approximately 7,000 officers to oversee the 8.5 million people of New York City.¹⁶ In comparison, California has added only 2,877 sworn peace officers to all law enforcement agencies throughout the state over the past five years.¹⁷ To add the same number of officers as New York City, the Los Angeles Police Department would have to nearly double the number of police officers the department currently has.

Massachusetts experienced a 28.5% drop in the six major crime categories.¹⁸ The crime rate there was driven down partly due to a strong commitment to community-policing. One of the most successful community-policing programs in Massachusetts has been the Safe Neighborhood Initiative, which started in one section of Boston and since has been replicated in several other Boston neighborhoods, as well as several Massachusetts cities. The police force

¹⁵New York Department of Justice; March, 1997.

¹⁶"Are Cities Winning Crime War?;" Investor's Business Daily January 31, 1996.

¹⁷Crime and Delinquency in California. 1996 California Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Justice Information Services.

¹⁸1994 through 1996 state crime rates come from Crime in the United States United States Department of Justice.

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