Julie Wood Chapter 3-Summary “The Divide” October 6, 2015
Andrew Brown grew up in the projects, in which he calls the red-zone of Brooklyn, New York. He desired to be a cop and took an interest in watching television shows of the like, when he was a little boy. Andrew was the only male child in the family, of his mother and father. As he was growing up, his father was not in the household with him, but remained in his life. Andrew’s household consisted of his mother, sisters, grandfather, aunt, and his cousins. Eventually, his aunt and cousins moved out. Shortly after, Andrew and his sisters were removed from the home and were in the custody of the aunt because his mother was struggling with a drug addiction. He struggled with the separation from his mother, and he did not care for his aunt. He thought she only wanted them just to collect the money for them from the state. Andrew’s grandfather was the only male figure who was constant in his life, but he died.
Andrew began getting into trouble after his grandfather passed away. This involved the police. As his behaviors worsened, his mother’s health began to decline due to the added stress. She did all that she could to get him to straighten himself up, which included calling on his father. His mother’s first hospitalization was an eye-opener for him. He swore that he would pull it together. Yet he meant well, he still got in trouble and eventually had to be sent to the dirtiest detention center in New York. This facility was to be shut down the by city and considered to have a numerous amount of complaints about the filth and physical abuse.
Andrew’s mother had passed away. He lived with the guilt and shame for years and began thinking and feeling that he played a significant part of his mother’s death. His behaviors escalated even more. He was in and out of jail dealing with physical abuse, and on top of this, his guilt. Eventually, his father had got his attention. He sat him down to talk. Andrew tried to turn his life around, but getting a job was not working for him. He went back to the streets. This time, Andrew was shot and hospitalized. During his hospitalization, he was arrested by the police for having a gun. He beat the charge because his friend’s mother had testified that she was pressured and manipulated by the police to testify against Andrew. At this age of 23, Andrew began to look at life differently.
A city University of New York professor named Harry Levine began to notice that there was a drastic increase in arrest for simple possessions. This led him to discover a man named Harry Safir. Harry was a second police commissioner for Rudy Giuliani. Levine theorized that the sharp incline in arrest, since Giuliani’s election and appointment of Safir, was the result of the zero-tolerance platform that Giuliani stood on to become mayor. This platform also encompassed minor crimes like jay-walking, littering, loitering, and fare beating. Safir had an extensive low enforcement history, but nothing that could be said to be relevant to violent crimes, which Giuliani considered would be a good fit. However, for whatever reasons, crime started dropping in the early 1990’s. The reason why still remains unanswered. Without question, a few things did happen, like the institution of a system called CompStat, which in reality pitted police precincts against police precincts. Other big cities also began using a form of CompStat. Because this system s just what it is, a system, it became a problem for the police in terms of making money while crime was declining. The solution turned out to be that the police made up arrests, which, in turn, created a large work load.
In conclusion, it turns out that Andrew is no exception to the many systems that New York City has put into effect to address crime. Hundreds of thousands of people have been subjected to the very same thing. No matter which system is put into effect, there will always be one common denominator. That is, injustice.