Broken Windows - 04/19/15 02:06 PM
So for anyone following the Implications of Racism thread, I mentioned briefly about the Broken Windows Theory in regards to Clem's plans to dedicate proactive resources in cleaning up sections of a city in order to re-vitalize them. For about the last 15-20 years many police agencies have used the Broken Windows theory.
Broken Windows was a model developed under Mayor Giuliani in the 90's. At the time of his election NYC, particularly sections of Manhattan were terrible. Rampant prostitution, open drug use, assaults, robberies, general muggings, breaking and enterings, and murder rates were some of the highest in the U.S.
In order to clean that area up, officers were directed to aggressively enforce the minor things: littering, begging, selling loosies, arresting the guys who would wash your windows without your permission then come at you when you wouldn't pay them, prostitution, etc. Basically, the little things you see cops enforcing but feel like its nothing but harassment.
What they found was that many of the people they arrested for the minor things, were ALSO responsible for the more serious offenses. As these people were taken off of the streets for the little stuff, the more serious crime rates plummeted. Gone are all the seedy porn and XXX shops, and in their place are clean streets and viable businesses. As I think I mentioned NYC used to be one of the murder capitals of the U.S. Now I believe they average between 300 and 400 per year... in a city of 12-15 MILLION. That's amazing. For scale, the city of St. Louis has a population of about 270,000?? They had just over 170 murders last year.
Now I do have to point out, Giuliani had a very heavy handed approach to the implementation and many New Yorkers couldn't wait until his final term in office was up and he was out. Then 9/11 happened and the city rallied around the leadership he provided. IMO had 9/11 not happened, Giuliani wouldn't enjoy the popularity he does now.
But the Broken Windows Theory was proven to be sound and to work! And so many agencies adopted it and adapted it to their communities.
The thing is, it also doesn't work.
There is a key component to NYC's success with the theory that many other cities don't have and I think its been a contributing factor in the divide some policing agencies have with their communities.
In NYC, when they were able to push out the bad people and businesses, they were quickly replaced with reputable people and businesses. Basically, they forced out the crappy neighbor with the messy yard, and got someone who takes care of their property. Now the whole neighborhood looks wonderful again.
The problem most cities have is that much of the enforcement of these smaller crimes is done in poor, urban, residential areas. Even when you take the bad people off the streets, there is no one that comes and replaces them.
Remember when I said that the types of minor stuff enforced are things many people would view as the police harassing people? Well that's exactly what the communities started looking at as, even to many of the law abiding people in those poor neighborhoods because they aren't seeing any kind of real result from that level of enforcement. Houses are still crappy, people still don't have jobs, etc etc. Their quality of life hasn't improved all that much.
What's then created is this vicious cycle where when the police do go into those neighborhoods, few people are willing to cooperate. SO the police say, ok, why bother, no one wants to help. Then the community says "Where were the police?!" when something serious does happen. Then we show up and no one wants to 'be a snitch'.
I think some agencies are catching on to the reality that Broken Windows isn't going to be the best solution for every city. Right now the buzz word in law enforcement is 'Community Policing'. I call it a buzz word because CP can vary widely from agency to agency. CP in one city could be coordinating Community Watch programs... CP in another agency could be a unit of officers who aggressively go after gang members. Currently there is no singular model for Community Policing but that's ok! IMO there shouldn't be. Those programs need to be developed between the agency and the people they serve.
So, there it is. Hopefully I provided a little more insight as to the Why agencies do what they do and are trying to do. BTW, this is not an endorsement of NYPD as a whole. They have some practices that I'm not a fan of and aren't widely practiced by other agencies such as 'Stop and Frisk'.
Broken Windows was a model developed under Mayor Giuliani in the 90's. At the time of his election NYC, particularly sections of Manhattan were terrible. Rampant prostitution, open drug use, assaults, robberies, general muggings, breaking and enterings, and murder rates were some of the highest in the U.S.
In order to clean that area up, officers were directed to aggressively enforce the minor things: littering, begging, selling loosies, arresting the guys who would wash your windows without your permission then come at you when you wouldn't pay them, prostitution, etc. Basically, the little things you see cops enforcing but feel like its nothing but harassment.
What they found was that many of the people they arrested for the minor things, were ALSO responsible for the more serious offenses. As these people were taken off of the streets for the little stuff, the more serious crime rates plummeted. Gone are all the seedy porn and XXX shops, and in their place are clean streets and viable businesses. As I think I mentioned NYC used to be one of the murder capitals of the U.S. Now I believe they average between 300 and 400 per year... in a city of 12-15 MILLION. That's amazing. For scale, the city of St. Louis has a population of about 270,000?? They had just over 170 murders last year.
Now I do have to point out, Giuliani had a very heavy handed approach to the implementation and many New Yorkers couldn't wait until his final term in office was up and he was out. Then 9/11 happened and the city rallied around the leadership he provided. IMO had 9/11 not happened, Giuliani wouldn't enjoy the popularity he does now.
But the Broken Windows Theory was proven to be sound and to work! And so many agencies adopted it and adapted it to their communities.
The thing is, it also doesn't work.
There is a key component to NYC's success with the theory that many other cities don't have and I think its been a contributing factor in the divide some policing agencies have with their communities.
In NYC, when they were able to push out the bad people and businesses, they were quickly replaced with reputable people and businesses. Basically, they forced out the crappy neighbor with the messy yard, and got someone who takes care of their property. Now the whole neighborhood looks wonderful again.
The problem most cities have is that much of the enforcement of these smaller crimes is done in poor, urban, residential areas. Even when you take the bad people off the streets, there is no one that comes and replaces them.
Remember when I said that the types of minor stuff enforced are things many people would view as the police harassing people? Well that's exactly what the communities started looking at as, even to many of the law abiding people in those poor neighborhoods because they aren't seeing any kind of real result from that level of enforcement. Houses are still crappy, people still don't have jobs, etc etc. Their quality of life hasn't improved all that much.
What's then created is this vicious cycle where when the police do go into those neighborhoods, few people are willing to cooperate. SO the police say, ok, why bother, no one wants to help. Then the community says "Where were the police?!" when something serious does happen. Then we show up and no one wants to 'be a snitch'.
I think some agencies are catching on to the reality that Broken Windows isn't going to be the best solution for every city. Right now the buzz word in law enforcement is 'Community Policing'. I call it a buzz word because CP can vary widely from agency to agency. CP in one city could be coordinating Community Watch programs... CP in another agency could be a unit of officers who aggressively go after gang members. Currently there is no singular model for Community Policing but that's ok! IMO there shouldn't be. Those programs need to be developed between the agency and the people they serve.
So, there it is. Hopefully I provided a little more insight as to the Why agencies do what they do and are trying to do. BTW, this is not an endorsement of NYPD as a whole. They have some practices that I'm not a fan of and aren't widely practiced by other agencies such as 'Stop and Frisk'.