zero tolerance
zero toleranceA policy argument supporting practical initiatives to curtail anti-social behaviour; more generally, implying no scope for opposition, dispute, or deviation. Criminal acts and incivilities are fixed in time and place but as a cumulative process can lead to the erosion of community and an impression that control has been relinquished. James Wilson and George Kelling (Broken Windows, 1982) influentially argued that street vandalism, empty buildings, the flight of local businesses and respectable families, are stages of community deterioration that require strong, early intervention. Famously, from the mid-1990s, New York City police adopted a ‘zero tolerance’ stance toward minor offences and subsequently claimed dramatic reductions in crime and behaviours such as street begging. However, critics have demonstrated similar changes in urban locations that did not adopt zero tolerance. For supporters, zero tolerance is an element of a...
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