Broken Window

During the 1990’s many theories began speculating as to why there was a sudden dramatic decline in violent crimes. One of the biggest theories that was widely used during the decline was a system of crime fighting called “broken windows.” This theory was popularized by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, in an article called “The Atlantic”. “If a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired,” they observed, “all the rest of the windows will soon be broken.” (Drum). By the police showing people that they will tolerate small crimes, such as someone breaking a window, this allowed for a cycle of never ending crime to begin. Cracking down on these small crimes would allow for the bigger crimes to drop. This policy was applied in New York City by the Boston police chief Bill Bratton. He aggressively applied this theory by going after homeless people in the subway stations and turnstile jumpers, and the results were very dramatic. Since 1993, when Bratton began the “broken windows” policy rape rates dropped 17 percent, assault rates dropped 27 percent, robbery rates 42 percent, and murder dropped 49 nearly percent. (Drum). All in all, it seemed that Wilson and Kelling’s theory had been proven to work, yet doubts still

Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.

Due to these apparent successes, the problem-focused approach has been used to address a diverse array of problems such as gangs, drugs, school crime and the management of police call for service in urban, suburban and even rural communities. The exploration of possible responses to a problem is handled by police officers. Once a problem is identified, officers are expected to work closely with the community members to develop a solution, which can include a wide range of alternatives to arrest. These may focus on the offender, the community, the environment, outside agencies, or the need for some kind of mediation. Problem-oriented policing grew out of twenty years of research into police practices, and differs from traditional policing strategies in many significant ways. For example, problem-oriented policing enables police agencies to be more effective. Currently, police agencies commit most of their time to responding to calls for service. Problem-oriented policing offers a more effective strategy by addressing the

When discussing how exposure to community policing can affect low economic neighborhoods, one must ask what is community policing? Miller, Hess, and Orthmann (2014) stated, it is a philosophy or orientation that emphasizes working proactively with citizens to reduce fear, solve crime-related problems, and prevent crime. Community policing can be a positive change in the community and for the law enforcement personnel that serves the community. An important concept to always remember is that the police are the community, and the community are the police (Miller et al., 2014). To successfully integrate this into police departments, we must examine several factors that have made police departments what they are today, what are ways to implement this new form of policing without resistance from law enforcement and citizens, and how community policing can affect the community and the work of law enforcement in the long run.

The “broken window” policy was used to put officers on foot patrol in community neighborhoods in order to prevent household crimes such as burglary and vandalism. This main goal for policing these neighborhoods, “was

The “broken windows” model of policing was created as an experimental way of policing areas of high crime. The main focus of the “broken windows” model of policing was

The second disorder falls under social chaos such as noisy neighbours, noisy youth groups on street corners, and aggressive panhandlers. These two types of disorders were thought to increase fear among a community as suggested by the article ‘Broken Windows”. To execute on the broken windows theory, police officers were assigned on foot patrols in communities who had high concentrations of both physical and social disorders (mainly in poor communities). After a five year study conducted by the Police Foundation in Washington, D.C, foot patrol did not reduce crime in communities but rather created the illusion of a safer community. Individuals in communities believed “that crime had been reduced, and seemed to take fewer steps to protect themselves from crime”(Broken Windows 1). These findings would serve as incentives to enforce informal control in a community such as, removing or hiding both social and physical disorders in a community. For example, there is no law against looking drunk and homeless, but this social disorder in a community can portray negligence towards the community, which can invite more disorderly conduct. Officers would then, enforce informal control by either suggesting the person to go somewhere else or making an arrest under the charges of vagrancy.

Kelling and Wilson’s article “Broken Windows” focuses on the importance of disorder in generating and sustaining crime that is more severe. The writers explain that disorder is not directly related to serious crime, but instead leads to increased fear as well as withdrawal from residents, which allows more serious crime to move in because of decreased levels of informal societal control. Kelling and Wilson believe that police can play a key role in disrupting this process. If they put their focus on disorder and minor crimes in neighborhoods that have not yet been overtaken by serious crime, they can help reduce fear and resident withdrawal. The promotion of advanced levels of informal social control can help people take control of their neighborhood

The policy and problem identified in this policy analysis recognized the significance of the problem. Their goal was to address the issue of deterrence, public safety, and restoring neighborhoods to a safe environment for kids and the elderly to live. The plan outlines challenges for interactions with local residents and attracting more business to make the area a desirable place for residents and visitors to patronize. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of police foot patrol as a means of deterrence through apprehension and as a means of risk reduction, community and problem oriented policing, high crime neighborhood hot spots, and violence prevention.

This paper is going to discuss the Broken Window Theory. According to the textbook, “the Broken Window Theory is an informal theory of police responsibilities when they are controlling low level disorders and the relationship to more serious crimes.” (Criminal Justice) According to the Britannica website, “broken windows theory, academic theory proposed by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling in 1982 that used broken windows as a metaphor for disorder within neighborhoods. Their theory links disorder and incivility within a community to subsequent occurrences of serious crime.” The broken windows theory was introduced by James Q. Wilson and George Kelling in 1982. They created it as a metaphor for disorder within communities.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the three different policing strategies known as, broken windows, zero tolerance, and problem oriented policing. Each of these strategies have both their pros and cons throughout this paper I will be describing each of these strategies along with discussing a few articles in relation to these strategies. In light of the recent tension between law enforcement and the community, specifically minorities ill also be discussing how these strategies have either helped or hurt communities.

Kansas City prevention was a patrol experiment; (preventative patrolling). The results of police patrolling in high crime areas did not lessen criminal activity, however the reduction of police patrolling did not result in increased criminal activity. This research shined a new light on policing and helped pave the way for future community policing.

In 1982, James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling presented an article that called for a change in police tactics to enhance neighborhood safety entitled simply “Broken Windows”. This article was hailed as the godsend that everyone was waiting for because at the time crime rates were extremely high and murder had peaked just two years prior to the release of this article. Wilson and Kelling declare that a return to “order-maintenance” police function is the key to providing safe neighborhoods (Kelling and Wilson 104). This is achieved through foot patrol officers that enact regulations for their patrol areas which keep individuals in their place and “strengthen the informal social control mechanisms of natural communities” (Kelling and Wilson

Broken windows, order-maintenance, quality-of-life policing are all ideas that are fast becoming conventional ways to control crime. Social scientists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling are convinced their idea of “broken windows” policing shows a connection between street disorder and serious crime. They believe by police cracking down on any behavior they consider to be disorderly shows the people in the community that law enforcement is watching them and deters criminal behavior from occurring. University of Arizona law professor, Bernard E. Harcourt, argues that the broken-windows theory does not prove that disorder causes crime. In fact, aggressive over-policing has created more problems than it solves. Problems such as a strained criminal justice system, burdening impoverished people with fines for minor offenses, and abuse of power between police and the

The city Richmond, located in Virginia, is a huge city with small areas with high crime rates. Above all, Richmond is a beautiful city and not labeled as broken. Richmond offers a large amount of diversity, variety of foods, high amounts of education, many opportunities and more. The younger generation does many criminal acts because they lack knowledge and there is no hope for youth in some communities. Furthermore, Richmond is determined to fix a window before the whole community is full of broken window. Richmond offers counseling, church groups, mentors, school tutoring, and many more programs to help our community continue to be great. The Richmond population is about two hundred fourteen thousand people. A study of the violent crime comparisons that had a thousand residents. The study stated that a Richmond resident had a one in one hundred eighty six chances of becoming a criminal. The Richmond police strive to be a part of the community. There have been many community picnics and gathering to build a better relationship with the police and