Sheldon's Broken Window Theory

Wilson and Kelling’s key idea is that disorder and the absence of controls leads to crime. Their solution is to crack down on any disorder using a twofold strategy. First an environmental improvement strategy that any broken window must be repaired immediately, otherwise more will follow and the neighbourhood will be on the slide. Secondly the police must adopt a zero tolerance policing strategy. Instead of merely reacting to crime, the must proactively tackle even the slightest sign of disorder, even if it is not criminal. This

When George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson first proclaimed the Broken Windows Theory, it states that maintaining an orderly environment law enforcement needs to enforce a “zero-tolerance” policy on disreputable people who commit small crimes like public drinking and vandalism, thereby ultimately prevent bigger crimes from occurring. In the mid 70’s Newark, New Jersey had implemented aspects of the Broken Windows Theory in order to improve the quality of community life. By having police officers patrolling the city on foot instead of driving, they hoped it will reduce crime rates. There was no difference in the way people committed crimes rather police are patrolling on foot or in vehicles (Cullen, 498-499).

The assumption with this theory is that those neighborhoods that are disorganized and messy will have higher crime rates than neighborhoods that are clean and orderly. In neighborhoods that are messy and disorganized, it starts to become the norm, and there starts to become less control that leads to disorder and crime.

This paper will cover two policing styles known as the “broken windows” theory and community policing. The paper will end with a small analysis of which style would be more practical long-term. This paper will start with an explanation as to what the “broken windows” theory is. Furthermore, this paper will cover some of advantages and disadvantages of that theory when put into practical application. Additionally, this essay will explain what “community policing” as defined by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). This is followed by a brief discussion some advantages and challenges that are unique to that approach. Lastly, this paper covers which one would be more viable policing in the long-term.

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

Broken windows policing is more of an emphasis on physical and social disorder which produces more serious crime. The increase of physical and social disorder causes an increase of fear and withdrawal in the residents. During this time, there is a decreased social control which allows the more serious crime to occur. Due to the inactivity of social control, crime occurs more often which allows police to predict the crime and when it occurs. Some examples of broken windows policing strategies are stop-and-frisk, zero tolerance, and NYC Subway.

“Broken Windows” policing drives crime rates down. When the New York City Police Department employed this policy, “murders decreased 19 percent and car thefts fell by 15 percent in the first year” (Noble 2016).

For instance, a strength is the idea that individuals who commit minor offenses potentially drug related or vandalism, may have a higher chance of going onto committing more serious crimes if they believe that they will not get caught for it. Therefore, catching those who commit minor offenses early will show criminals that the system of law and order works efficiently and deter higher crime. However, the author Aleszu Bajak from Daily News, explains that since the Atlantic article first emerged, thousands of studies carried out in U.S. cities have analyzed this theory-focused law enforcement strategy and if it reduces criminality, but the quality of the studies, along with their result, have been mixed. Therefore, more conclusive data needs to be found in order to determine if this policing strategy is effective. Nevertheless, the logic of the theory is not flawed, yet the idea in practice has unintended

Broken windows theory is criminological theory that suggested aggressive enforcement of all statutes (urban crimes like vandalism) can restore a sense of order. By capturing enforcement data as reflected in summons and arrest activity, the department is better able to gauge its overall performance. Maintaining and monitoring environments to prevent minor violations like vandalism and public drinking helps creating an atmosphere of order and lawfulness, thereby preventing other crimes from happening. This theory was first introduced and practiced by the New York City Police Department when the problems of crimes became more severe, was intended to decrease crime rates, in which data suggested that it was successful, but was this approach the

First, community policing can be identified or known in numerous ways, one being the broken windows theory. An overview of broken windows theory through policing is known that because of “lack of social order” or policing neighborhoods are unkempt and vandalized. As a result, with the help of community policing, programs are evaluated, crime patterns are analyzed, and information is shared with organizations and other municipal agencies and with the community to help build stronger bonds with the community(Reisig,

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

Should Broken-Windows Continue to Exist? The Broken-windows theory “suggests that visible signs of disorder can lead to more serious crime” (Owens 300) and is a method on reducing the amount of disorder in neighborhoods. Disorders can be those of physical such as the appearances of certain neighborhoods.

Zimbardo 's experiment is the basis and inspiration of the broken windows theory (Engel et al., 2014). The theory posits that disorder leads to crime, or as Keizer, Lindenberg, and Steg (2008) put it, "Signs of inappropriate behavior like graffiti or broken windows lead to other inappropriate behavior". The theory presents a snowball effect form disorder to crime. There has been much debate over the validity of the theory, but the research shows that disorder—broken windows—does lead to crime.

Wilson and Kelling (1982) introduced a theory in their seminal piece called the broken windows theory that advocates for aggressive policing in poor communities. These scholars viewed serious crimes to be the result of minor crimes and disorder and argued that quality-of-life such as prostitution, vandalism, and other visible crimes can end up in social disorder. If the police took direct action then there would be less disorder therefore less crimes. This theory eventually morphed into stop-and-frisk, the philosophy of crime-busting. Another theory is the double power theory, from a Italian philosopher by the name of Giorgio Agamben. It is a theory that explores the way that power is used by the state, and one way is by limiting the freedom

This study identified two extraneous variables: perception of incivilities and dissatisfaction of life quality….Thus, we can assume a causal process that community policing improves the conditions of community, then community members who become satisfied with the quality of life in the neighborhood feel less fear of crime. In other words, it appears that either perception of disorder or community concern is located between perception of community policing and fear of crime by the causal sequence. In short, the two factors, as intervening variables, are affected by perception of community policing, and then influence fear of crime. (Roh & Oliver, 2005, p.