ABSTRACT
New Yorkers lived in fear the year they threw Edward Koch from office and elected David Dinkins mayor. During 1989, 1,905 murders left blood on the streets and sidewalks of every neighborhood in the city. More Americans died violent deaths within the confines of five boroughs in those twelve months than would die in the worst twelve months of combat in Iraq following the US invasion in 2003. The line between necessary force and abuse of police power remained as faint as it had ever been in New York. Unlike his predecessor, who engaged in endless rhetorical executions of criminals and sided with the police in the absence of compelling evidence otherwise, Dinkins expressed concern for the consequences of aggressive police actions. For many, weary of living in an unsafe city, the mayor's emphasis seemed misplaced. Some signs of progress emerged through the despair that surrounded the battle against violence and crime in the early part of the Dinkins administration.
