NCJ Number
82420
Date Published
1980
Length
311 pages
Annotation
The dynamics of the involvement of the crime issue in the politics of San Francisco and Philadelphia in the mid-1970's are analyzed and compared.
Abstract
Each city was examined in three stages. First, general writings about each city were studied, including political and historical narratives of activities in each city during the 1970's as well as empirical studies of politics, crime, and police during this time. Second, using various indices of national publications, a chronology of major events was developed to guide later research. The third stage involved the most specific research. Area newspapers were read for each day during the period studied to develop an impression of the flow of events and attitudes projected by the media. The following were general conclusions reached about the politics of crime in San Francisco: (1) the type of crime the city experienced in the late 1970's helped make crime a political issue; (2) the diffusion of power in the city's political system made it easy for interested parties to bring the crime issue to the political agenda; and (3) public opinion was an important tool for political actors when considering the crime issue. Conclusions about the politics of crime in Philadelphia are that (1) the crime issue was closely tied to the race issue; (2) the crime issue was controlled by Mayor Rizzo and used by him as an offensive political tactic to stay in power; and (3) the political system is more tightly controlled by a few persons restricting the placement of the crime issue on the political agenda. Some general implications of the findings are discussed. Tabular and graphic data are provided. Appended are a discussion of research methods, a chronology of events in each city, and a bibliography of 46 entries.