The emergence of the classic American skid row between the late 19th and middle 20th centuries took place at the same time that the public function of urban policing moved from broad social control to the more specialized job of fighting crime. This paper examines the interaction of these two processes. As skid row changed from a dynamic, lively area, associated with relatively young tramping workers, into a refuge for older derelicts, the police changed as well-from a vital force on the front line of defense against feared social breakdown into caretakers of an urban neighborhood whose problems bore only marginally on key public issues in law and order.
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