Police Chiefs Cite Youths in Crime Rise, Call for More Federal Funds

Houston officials attribute their recent spike in homicides in part to a handful of destructive people who moved there after Hurricane Katrina, saying they were involved in 60 slayings.

Anthony Braga, criminologist at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, said criminals' "rules of engagement" changed in the 1990s, when teenagers were increasingly shooting each other over petty disputes and perceived slights.

"The youth are clearly driving this," he said. "The age of these kids is going down as the years pass."

The police chiefs talked about a culture that threatens, and sometimes kills, people who cooperate with police. Robert Dunford, a superintendent in Boston, said police are solving fewer crimes and continuing to lose the confidence of the community. Boston solved about 70 percent of its homicides in years past but solved about 29 percent last year, he said.

The chiefs also complained about shrinking police forces and said dwindling federal funds have contributed to the problem.

Some chiefs said law enforcement is suffering as federal funds are diverted to homeland security and the war in Iraq.

Edward A. Flynn, police chief of Springfield, Mass., and former Arlington County chief, said the country has created a "zero sum game, where we have a choice between funding homeland security and criminal justice."

Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick said the scope of the cities represented at the summit was telling.

"When you start seeing cities like Fort Wayne in this room, the problem is bigger than the rhetoric," Kilpatrick said. "Everything is exploding again. We need effective, efficient emergency federal response."

Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty assured the chiefs that he wanted to work with them.

"I see competing demands on resources," McNulty said. "It is expensive to fund our soldiers overseas, and we have to be successful here at home also."

The program also included a session on tactics to combat crime. Neither Ramsey nor D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) attended the forum. Nola Joyce, chief administrative officer for the D.C. police, talked about the crime emergency, the city's 10 p.m. curfew for juveniles, police overtime and surveillance cameras in neighborhoods.

Since the crime emergency went into effect July 11, crime has dipped, she said.