Dehradun, Sept. 17 -- Although controversial, the law enforcement measures described as the 'broken windows' system, which were adopted by New York when Rudy Giuliani was Mayor, are largely believed to have significantly brought down the crime rate. Under this philosophy of combating crime, it is believed that arrests and prosecutions for small offences created an environment of lawful behaviour and deterred more serious crimes from taking place. The more lax police are with regard to petty crime, the more favourable an environment is created for serious offences. The habit of challenging the law at every level certainly creates a larger number of recruits for criminal gangs.
There is a lesson in this for the Police in Uttarakhand, which i...