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Via Kevin Drum, a report from Irvine, California:
It's a religiously tidy community. Homeowners associations regulate the smallest details: the shade of paint, from eggshell to beige, what trees may be planted, the mowing and edging of every stretch of grass.I grew up in a lovely neighborhood in nearby Costa Mesa. Crime in my tract is also very low, even though everyone paints their house whatever color they damn well please.
Police Chief David Maggard said he sees his department as a service-based organization, operating under the assumption that safety is contagious.
"If people have a sense that their community is safe, they will go out at night, they will interact with their neighbors, they will use the parks," he said, "and that does have an impact on crime."
Cops don't come to Irvine to bust heads or run-and-gun, and several officers interviewed seemed satisfied that they are able to spend time solving cases that might be shrugged off in towns with more crime, even while some say the pace of activity in Irvine is at times too slow.
"It's not that there's absolutely nothing that happens in Irvine," said Barry Miller, a field training officer.
"It just seems like there's no call we won't take," he said.
On a recent afternoon, Miller responded to a typical call.
On the street of two-story suburban homes, lined with jacarandas and palms and curbside recycling bins, a father and his 14-year-old son were arguing about water polo practice while he gave his other son a haircut in the garage.
Two police cars were on the scene within minutes.
Miller defused the situation with some gentle words to the father and son, smiling as he stood on the front lawn, looking more the part of mediator than hardened lawman.
The officer quickly typed the police code for "disturbance" in his patrol car's computer: 415 over son not doing what dad wants. Verbal only. No crime.
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