disease is lawlessness; the cure is more law, more arrests, swifter trials, and harsher
penalties.
88
The “leading citizens” of New York reacted in this same way to the ‘crime wave’ created
by Steffens and his colleague. However, during this same period, police records of
crimes and arrests showed no increase. Only newspaper reports of crime had increased.
Steffens writes, “there was a wave of publicity only.”
89
To stop this ‘crime wave,’ the
mayor of New York had to ask Steffens and his fellow journalists to stop reporting on
crime.
In the newspaper articles, editorials, published political speeches, political
advertisements and letter to the Editor analyzed above, the image of a ‘crime wave’ is
omnipresent. During both the “Dirty War” and the democratizing period, ‘crime’ is
described as a serious threat that must be met with harsh measures. Rising crime rates,
then, become the main justification for police repression, even when these images of
‘crime’ do not necessarily reflect an actual rise in ‘crime.’ When discussing police
violence in Argentina after the 1984 democratic transition, Chevigny suggests that the
level of police violence in Buenos Aires and its “extreme arbitrariness” are difficult to
understand, given that in comparison to other Latin American cities, Buenos Aires
experiences relatively low levels of violence.
90
McSherry quotes a report published by
CELS that proposes that public outcries against the violence of the “Dirty War” caused
the police to project images of a ‘crime wave’ in order to continue to enjoy their role as
the “saviors of society.” The police used confrontations with ‘suspected criminals’ to
88
Steffens, Lincoln. 1931. The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens. New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Company. 285.
89
ibid. 290.
90
Chevigny. Edge of the Knife. 193.
Convention