The Garner case is already rippling out into broader political conversations, like the value of the "broken windows" strategy which targets low-level offenses that have made arrests climb in the city even as crime is near record lows. (Garner was initially approached by the police because he was suspected of selling untaxed cigarettes on the street.)
From Joseph Goldstein's New York Times story:
"I think we need to look at whether we still need these arrests," said Eric L. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president and a former captain of the New York Police Department.
"This is a good moment," he said, "to re-evaluate what comes after 'broken windows,' now that the windows are no longer broken."
