Jeffrey A. Butts, executive director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, noted that even in Washington, federal resources are not actually being targeted where they would make the most difference, in high-crime neighborhoods far from the photogenic monuments and government buildings where National Guard troops are patrolling.
“Robbery statistics depend on citizen reporting,” said Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Surveys conducted in five cities as part of the Research and Evaluation Center’s project for the National League of Cities and its Institute for Youth, Education, and Families.
While the Council on Criminal Justice’s findings paint an encouraging picture for the country, the director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College in New York cautioned against reading too much into them. “You can learn something by looking at city-specific trends, but don’t rush to broad conclusions based on an incomplete sample,” Jeffrey Butts said.
“New York City is a very diverse place. We see people from different cultural and religious traditions every moment and we just know one another, so it’s harder for people to foment inter-group hatreds,” says Jeffrey Butts, director of the research and evaluation center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.
Jeffrey Butts interviewed by Katy Tur on MSNBC.
