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DefinitionZero tolerance was launched in the early 1990s as a new style of policing, aimed at substantial crime reduction, based on rigorous enforcement of the law, particularly for street crimes and ‘quality of life’ offences, allowing low discretion for patrol officers and ostensibly no clemency for offenders.Distinctive FeaturesZero tolerance attracted considerable attention in policing and became associated with New York, with Mayor Giuliani and with Police Commissioner Bratton (although Bratton abandoned the term as smacking of ‘over-zealousness’). In New York and elsewhere, it was based on four main elements: assertive and visible policing of the streets with robust law enforcement, swift analysis of crime data translated into pressure on district chiefs to perform, the ‘broken windows’ concept for multi-agency initiatives to tackle community problems (Kelling and Coles, 1996) and a new élan for policing with strong leadership, political backing, enhanced resources and rhetoric of success (Sampson et al, 1997).The call for assertive policing drew partly on environmental criminologists who believed a strong anti-crime orientation in a neighbourhood could channel efforts into removing the visible signs of disorder that impact on the quality of everyday life. [Source: The SAGE Dictionary of Policing; Zero Tolerance Policing]
zero tolerance policing