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The "broken windows" theory of police enforcement doesn't stand up when compared to other Western cities. A big part of the "broken windows" theory is that smal

The "broken windows" theory of police enforcement doesn't stand up when compared to other Western cities. A big part of the "broken windows" theory is that small crimes, such as graffiti, created an atmosphere that allowed worse crimes to happen. And yet, if you visit Berlin, you will see a city with a shocking amount of graffiti, but very little crime. If you visit parts of London you'll see run down industrial districts, but very little crime. Even if you confine your analysis to the USA, the "broken windows" theory of crime does not explain the relative shift in crime towards the suburbs, nor does it explain the increasing epidemic of drugs in rural areas. There is a lot that it does not explain, so it should be treated with suspicion. A theory that only explains one data point is not a theory at all. Most Western nations have seen decreases in crime during since the late 1980s. The USA had the most crime, and the USA has seen the biggest decrease. No one knows why. New York City has seen the biggest decrease of all the big cities, but figuring out why, given the extremely multi-variate nature of the problem, will be extremely difficult to do. Even those theories that attempt to explain the decline of crime in the USA (aging of the population, Roe vs Wade, unleaded gasoline, change in police tactics) fail to explain why New York City should see the largest decrease in crime, since one can find other cities, for any of those variables, that saw larger changes than New York City.

jkimmel 12y ago
>The USA had the most crime, and the USA has seen the biggest decrease. No one knows why. Some have proposed that outlawing leaded gasoline has led to less lead poisoning in children, thus less aggressive behavior in adults and subsequent decreases in crime. NBER paper - Environmental Policy as Social Policy? The Impact of Childhood Lead Exposure on Crime [1] - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13097.pdf http://www.nber.org/papers/w13097.pdf MotherJones story [2] - http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-li... Links to criticism of the story above [3] - http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/lead-and-crime-linkfest http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/lead-and-crime...
saraid216 12y ago
> A bit part of the "broken windows" theory is that small crimes, such as graffiti, created an atmosphere that allowed worse crimes to happen. I've always been confused as to why the broken windows theory presumes that the window is broken because of malicious action. It seems obvious to me that the window was broken accidentally, and as such, the correct response (in police action and otherwise) is to repair the window. Full stop.
- sparky_z 12y ago
  > I've always been confused as to why the broken windows theory presumes that the window is broken because of malicious action. It doesn't. > It seems obvious to me that the window was broken accidentally Are you suggesting that no young vandal has ever broken a window on purpose? I assure you, it happens. > and as such, the correct response (in police action and otherwise) is to repair the window. Full stop. I don't understand what you're disagreeing with. Has anybody ever seriously argued that the police should punish accidental window breaking? Conversely, if a police officer witnesses somebody throw a rock through a window without cause, should he not stop them?
  - saraid216 12y ago
    > It doesn't. If it doesn't, then why does the theory call for small crimes to be punished?
    - potatolicious 12y ago
      jerf explains it well above - the theory is that the appearance of disorder begets more disorder. Whether that disorder is deliberately caused by bad actors is significant at the micro scale but somewhat moot at the macro scale. i.e., a window broken by malicious act is a bad thing, but ultimately an accidentally broken window will also contribute to crime. The notion is that the appearance of disorder signals that such laws are poorly enforced, as well as decreases the level of responsibility and ownership people feel towards the place ("this place sucks already, what's one more...") Note that I don't endorse this particular view ;)

jkimmel 12y ago

>The USA had the most crime, and the USA has seen the biggest decrease. No one knows why. Some have proposed that outlawing leaded gasoline has led to less lead poisoning in children, thus less aggressive behavior in adults and subsequent decreases in crime. NBER paper - Environmental Policy as Social Policy? The Impact of Childhood Lead Exposure on Crime [1] - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13097.pdf http://www.nber.org/papers/w13097.pdf MotherJones story [2] - http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-li... Links to criticism of the story above [3] - http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/lead-and-crime-linkfest http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/lead-and-crime...

saraid216 12y ago

> A bit part of the "broken windows" theory is that small crimes, such as graffiti, created an atmosphere that allowed worse crimes to happen. I've always been confused as to why the broken windows theory presumes that the window is broken because of malicious action. It seems obvious to me that the window was broken accidentally, and as such, the correct response (in police action and otherwise) is to repair the window. Full stop.

sparky_z 12y ago
> I've always been confused as to why the broken windows theory presumes that the window is broken because of malicious action. It doesn't. > It seems obvious to me that the window was broken accidentally Are you suggesting that no young vandal has ever broken a window on purpose? I assure you, it happens. > and as such, the correct response (in police action and otherwise) is to repair the window. Full stop. I don't understand what you're disagreeing with. Has anybody ever seriously argued that the police should punish accidental window breaking? Conversely, if a police officer witnesses somebody throw a rock through a window without cause, should he not stop them?
- saraid216 12y ago
  > It doesn't. If it doesn't, then why does the theory call for small crimes to be punished?
  - potatolicious 12y ago
    jerf explains it well above - the theory is that the appearance of disorder begets more disorder. Whether that disorder is deliberately caused by bad actors is significant at the micro scale but somewhat moot at the macro scale. i.e., a window broken by malicious act is a bad thing, but ultimately an accidentally broken window will also contribute to crime. The notion is that the appearance of disorder signals that such laws are poorly enforced, as well as decreases the level of responsibility and ownership people feel towards the place ("this place sucks already, what's one more...") Note that I don't endorse this particular view ;)