Broken Windows Theory: Community Policing

Broken Windows Theory

Throughout the history of policing, police officers around the world have tried to find varying strategies to help fight crime. One of the theories that was developed was the Broken Windows Theory. Another strategy that was developed is Community Policing. These two strategies are some of the basic concepts of modern policing today. Using the Broken Windows theory and community policing within the schools and on the streets can help us attack crime at the lowest level possible and development a relationship within the community.

Broken Windows Theory

The Broken Windows Theory is just one of the strategies we use today in modern policing. The theory was created by James Q. Wilson in 1982. The theory states that if

we enforced the smaller social disorders and crimes, we would be able to prevent the more serious crimes.

Serious crimes that occur in society today usually have a chain of events and history of crimes leading up to it. This theory is saying instead of attacking the crime at the highest level we instead break the chain at the lowest level where it’s the easiest to break and enforce. So instead of focusing on major crimes like murder and rape, first start by fixing the city start enforcing the little things like graffiti and noise complaints. Now this theory doesn’t always necessarily stop crime itself. It usually just pushes the crime out of the city and to a different location. A lot believe this theory for enforcing crime is a very “zero-tolerance” approach. That might be true but it’ll be zero-tolerance on low crimes. Now does this theory really work on the streets?

The Broken Windows Theory is a great theory on paper. Now in the real

world the theory has been proven to not have a huge impact on crime rates. On the contrary, there are a few examples and situations where this theory does work. The New York City Police Department has used this theory a few different times. The NYPD applied this theory to crimes on the streets of New York City. NYPD started this “Stop and Frisk” policy where they would stop random individuals and perform a frisk search. This was enforcing the social disorder of the Broken Windows Theory. So if NYPD saw a group of people bunched up on the street late at night where they look like they’re up to no good, they could simply “Stop and Frisk” them. This policy is no longer in place since it has been ruled unconstitutional. It has been said that the “Stop and Frisk” method was racially profiling people. But this is not the only time the NYPD used the Broken Windows Theory on the streets. NYPD placed police officers in the subway stations in civilian clothing enforcing turnstile jumpers. As NYPD kept enforcing these minor crimes in the subway they started to see a decrease in all types of crimes in the subway. Lastly, NYPD tried attacking the streets one more time. This time instead of the “Stop and Frisk” policy, they decided to crack down on misdemeanor crimes. These crimes consisted of things like public drinking, street prostitution, and unsolicited windshield washing. By the NYPD enforcing these crimes, they saw an overall decrease in felonies by 40% and the overall homicide rates decreased by 50%. Broken Windows Theory is just one approach to policing the streets. Another highly used method is community policing.
Community policing in schools
Community Policing in our schools is a very effective way to build a relationship within the community. This can also help the youth understand what a police department is all about. Police departments go into to schools to influence and educate the youth on things like drugs and the effects of drinking and driving. On top of police run school programs, we also have over 19,000 police officer assigned to schools throughout the country. This will help those police officers build a relationship with the youth in their communities. Those officers can have a positive influence on a troubled kids life and steer them in the right direction. This will help improve the kid’s perspective on police. That way, when they grow up and become the leaders within their community they’ll be able to have a better relationship with their local police department. This also improves the relationship with parents as well. Parents tend to feel safer if they see a police officer in the school. This isn’t the only way police officers reach out to the community within the schools. Police departments also have a program called D.A.R.E.
Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is a fantastic way police reach out to and connect with the youth in their communities.

D.A.R.E. was a program created in 1983 by Chief Daryl Gates of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Trained officers go into schools and teach the youth about drugs and drug use prevention. By having a police officer go in and teach the students about D.A.R.E., its helps foster a relationship between the youth of the community and the police. This program allows kids to have a positive role model in their life and at the same time understand the consequences that will happen from using drugs. On top of building a relationship with the youth, this program has been proven to bring down the numbers in overall drug, tobacco, and alcohol use within the youth. Police departments also try to build their relationship with a community on the streets by participating in different programs in their

area.
Community policing on the streets
Keeping the people of the community involved in what is happening in their community and with their police department is key in maintaining a good relationship between the citizens and the law enforcement. Police departments around the nation always want to improve their relationship within the community and find ways to do so. Each police department has various ways of going about this. One way police help build a strong relationship with a community is by having a neighborhood watch program. The National Neighborhood Watch Program was created in 1972. This program allows the citizens to police their own communities in a sense and report any suspicious activity to their local law enforcement agencies. This program benefits the police in many different ways. It overall improves the relationship between the community and the police by creating a sense of camaraderie. This program can free up some officers who in return keep a closer eye on the more troubled neighborhoods. If the police have a second set of eyes on a neighborhood then they might not be as worried about that neighborhood. Of course the residents that live within that neighborhood will know the neighborhood the best. These citizens know who the troubled neighbors are and who they need to watch more than others. They also know who belongs in that neighborhood and who doesn’t and can tell when something is going wrong in their community. These are some of the things police wouldn’t always know if they’re not from that community. Another way police build a relationship within the community on the streets is a program called Coffee with a Cop.
Coffee with a Cop is an effective way to build trust and an open line of communication within a community. This program was created in Hawthorne, California in 2011. This is a program where any member of the community and a police officer can meet up at a neutral location and discuss issues and concerns within their community. This get together can happen at a local Dunkin’ Donuts or restaurant. The program really helps both the community and the police officers to understand the each other more and will overall help citizens build trust within their local police department and help fight crime.
Conclusion
Overall there are many different ways a police department will try to fight their local crime and build trust and a relationship within their communities. Whether it is trying to fix up their community and breaking the chain by enforcing the little things, or building trust with the community by educating the youth and getting the people involved. Every police department will continue to develop more strategies and programs to help build their relationship with the community and fight crime.