Introduction

Todd Heisler/The New York Times

Eric Garner, 43, died after a police officer put him in a chokehold for resisting arrest on charges of selling loose cigarettes on Staten Island.

Many New Yorkers were enraged not just by his death, but also because it occurred as part of the New York Police Department’s policy — based on the “broken windows” theory — to deter major crime by aggressively dealing with small offenses.

Critics say it leads to harassment of blacks and Hispanics and antagonizes residents of high-crime neighborhoods while doing nothing to fight serious crime.

Is the policy effective or counterproductive?