Uneasy Peace

The Great Crime Decline, the Renewal of City Life, and the Next War on Violence

By: Patrick Sharkey

Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan

Beginning in the mid-1990s, American cities experienced an astonishing drop in violent crime. By 2014, the United States was safer than it had been in 60 years.

Sociologist Patrick Sharkey gathered data from across the country to understand why this happened, and how it changed the nature of urban inequality. He shows that the decline of violence is one of the most important public health breakthroughs of the past several decades, that it has made schools safer places to learn and increased the chances of poor children rising into the middle class. Yet there have been costs, in the abuses and high incarceration rates generated by aggressive policing.

Sharkey puts forth an entirely new approach to confronting violence and urban poverty. At a time when inequality, complacency, and conflict all threaten a new rise in violent crime, and the old methods of policing are unacceptable, the ideas in this book are indispensable.

©2018 Patrick Sharkey (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A Guy Can Dream... Can’t He.

That’s really what this book should be titled.

I completely agreed with everything discussed by Sharkey...right up to the point where he suggested that we rely on the near-death Warren Buffett, Rand Paul and Grover Norquist, to resolve all of the evils of urban violence and inequality.

Tackling the problem of urban inequality most assuredly requires the aid and active partnership of committed, capable, able and powerful people, institutions, and absolutely governmental and non-governmental entities. However, at least a few of the individuals...must have either a soul, some sense of good character, and a modicum of credibility...preferably all of the above.

Grover Norquist CREATED and continues to foster much of the problem. Rand Paul is such a tool that his next-door neighbor was forced to pummel him into unconsciousness...not even mentioning Rand Paul’s REGULAR blocking of federal aid going to 9-11 first-responders...and Mr. Buffett... Sure, he signed the pledge to give away the bulk of his net worth...AFTER having spent an entire career as a corporate raider, bailing out Goldman Sachs AT AN ENORMOUS PROFIT, and doing almost exactly what Mitt Romney was vilified for in 2012. Oh, yeah...and long after he made sure to pass enough wealth to his children, so that exactly the kind of inequality Sharkey bemoans, will forever exist in the Buffett Clan.

So...while I am in total agreement with the premise, I think I would like Mr. Sharkey to stop collating his data in an R Script for just a moment and pass the pipe my way...

I like to dream, too.

Great work. Excellent book. Note to librarians everywhere...Code this one as “Fantasy”.

A New Way Forward

I highly recommend this book for those who are seeking a new way forward in addressing urban inequality and violence. He points out the need for investment in cities, and points out creative community based enforcement options that can be a first line of defense in supporting safe neighborhoods.

well thought-out book!

Loved it. Very impressed with the logic, story and data-driven discussion. I learned tons. I highly recommend this book.

Defund the police? Read this.

For anyone concerned by mass incarceration, the role of police, and persistent inequalities, this is an excellent introduction to the issues.

It is framed historically to understand how we got where we are, why, and what has worked (and not) in addressing urban violence in the past 50 years.

Sharkey does an admirable job of showing how it is in everyone’s interest to make wise, durable investments in historically disadvantaged communities- and which investments are most promising.

His proposals are not simplistic, and will disappoint those who want pithy slogans. But they are clear. And he makes a powerful case that there are strong reasons for people of every political and religious persuasion to act together.

The only major disappointment of the audiobook is the narration. The narrator would do well as a ten o’clock news reporter. His inflection is appropriate for that genre. But this is a carefully reasoned argument that deserves a scholarly voice. Sharkey doesn’t need a dramatic narrator. His writing is sharp and clear and deserves a voice to match it.

What to About Violence & Urban Revitalization

Thoroughly researched and considered. Authoritative. A new, compelling, comprehensive perspective on a just, effective violence reduction without mass incarceration.

Honest and Objective Look at the Impact of Violence in Communities

Very powerful and objective read based on empirical data and moving personal accounts about how violence has impacted communities, particularly our youth. It looks back and provides a path forward on how we can wage an effective war on violence without some of the collateral damage to the community that prior methods of addressing crime have created. I plan to incorporate this book into a course I teach on justice and public policy.