Broken Windows Theory Essay

The Broken Windows theory was put forward in 1982, and suggested that as American neighborhoods and urban areas declined, that these areas were more likely to experience increased levels of crime and urban decay (Fritsch, Liederbach, & Taylor, 2009). As business establishments, homeowners, and tenants moved away, it left many homes and building unattended. Overtime gangs, drug dealers, and predatory street crime would take over these areas further degrading the overall economics and appearance. Residents that remained in the community exposed to these conditions would become withdrawn and in turn less involved in the well being of the community. To counter this urban decay, the broken windows theory advocates a community oriented policing
NYC mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and then NYC police commissioner William Bratton, directly credited the broken windows theory as the basis for there new approach to cleaning up NYC (Harcourt & Ludwig, 2006). While the NYPD did increase the level of patrols, they also increased the number of people who were arrested for lower level offenses. Many in Giuliani’s administration, including him, and police administrators argued that these aggressive police patrol tactics were a success. However, some scholars disagreed that sufficient empirical evidence exist to support these claims (Harcourt & Ludwig, 2006).

The broken windows theory when employed can drain resources and manpower depending on the size and budget of a department. Aside from resource constraints, the broken windows theory can lead to constitutionality concerns. Additionally, it could be argued that these aggressive police tactics give the appearance and feeling of racial profiling within certain demographics. Finally, in aggressively policing lower level street crime, it puts additional strain on the jails and judicial systems from the increased arrest