Law & Disorder: The Chaotic Birth of the NYPD: 덕후의 일기장

Starting from 1830s, the author takes the reader into the life of suffering for those who lived in New York back in those days. Their lives are filled with anger over the corrupt society as well as fear towards their impending doom. After reading this book, I felt grateful for living in the 21st century when security has greatly improved.

Poverty

This book is littered with the description of citizens in New York suffering from poverty. I can't deny that in 2017 I could still see the homeless people on the streets begging for money, but back in those days in New York, it was much much worse. At least nowadays, financial assistance is available given that you start to look into it. However, this book describes the tragic life of underpaid individuals trying to extend at least one day of life.

Corrupted Police & Law Enforcement Officials

Sadly enough, corruption didn't end despite the flow of time. Those who are influential to the society still receive very miniscule punishments whereas those without would go through the standard route of law enforcement. What really shocked me were the prevalent cases of police receiving bribery from whore houses, pubs, or any rich individuals who committed a crime. Afterward, those people would be sent to certain judges who already received a bribe themselves.

Prostitution

I highly doubt that prostitution is ever going to end as long as there are humans living on Earth. I am by no means against prostitution, as I think it is a better way to earn a living rather than by stealing or duping people. However, prostitution back in those days was to be frowned upon as there were many young children who had no choice but only to get involved in prostitution. It got to the point that even parents would encourage their children to get involved in sex work.

Criminals

Those who visited New York for a vacation all expressed uniform agreement that New York is a dangerous place to visit and that one should be always wary of the potential dangers lurking ahead. Even the citizens' plea for a safe neighborhood was continued despite the lack of progress in this matter. All kind of criminals raged the streets: thugs, thieves, burglars, smugglers, white collar criminals, etc.

Mob Mentality

Adding on to the criminals, people would often group together to protest against the current government. This was not done in a peaceful matter. The police force was frequently attacked brutally and often innocent bystanders were caught up in the violence and were victimized. Words did not get through, only the smack on their heads would halt the violence. I doubt that most people even knew what they wanted to achieve at the end of their protest.

Immigrants

It is fairly understandable that during this period, the majority of citizens were against the lax immigration policy. They feared immigrants taking over their jobs and raising the crime rate. Despite the overt racism, a lot of Irish immigrants somehow managed to take roles in the police force. Immigrants were only one group of people being hated, as a matter of fact. Even within the immigrants, people constantly fought against in other due to religion.