Environmental Crime Prevention RR

Question 1

Broken Windows

Answer 1

This approach is based on James Q. Wilson & George Kelling’s
(1982) article, Broken Windows. Wilson & Kelling use the phrase
‘broken windows’ to stand for all the various signs of disorder &
lack of concern for others that are found in some neighbourhoods.

This includes noise, graffiti, begging, dog fouling, littering, vandalism, etc. They argue that leaving broken windows unrepaired, tolerating aggressive begging, etc. sends out a message that no one cares. They claim that if low-level antisocial behaviour can be prevented, then the escalation to more serious criminal acts can be stopped.

Question 2

1

Answer 2

In such neighbourhoods, there is an absence of both formal social control (e.g. the police) & informal social control (e.g. the community). The police are concerned with serious crime & turn a blind eye to ‘petty’ behaviour, while decent members of the community feel intimidated & powerless. Without action, the situation deteriorates, ‘tipping’ the neighbourhood into a spiral of decline. Respectable people move out if they can & the area becomes a magnet for deviants.

Question 3

2

Answer 3

Wilson & Kelling’s key idea isthat disorder & the absence of controls leads to crime. Their solution is to crack down on any disorder, using a two-fold strategy:

1. Environmental improvement strategy: any broken window must be repaired immediately, abandoned cars towed without delay etc, otherwise more will follow & the neighbourhood will be on the slide.
2. Zero-tolerance policing strategy: instead of merely reacting to crime, the police must proactively tackle even the slightest sign of disorder, even if it is not criminal. This will halt neighbourhood decline & prevent serious crime taking root.

Question 4

A03

Answer 4

There have been many claims of great success for zero tolerance policing, especially in New York (where Kelling was an adviser to the police). E.g. a ‘Clean Car Program’ was used on the subway where any cars with graffiti on them were taken out of service immediately until they were cleaned. As a result, graffiti was largely removed from the subway. Later, the approach was extended to the city’s police precincts & between 1993 & 1996, there was a significant fall in crime in the city, including a 50% drop in the homicide rate.

However, it is not clear how far zero tolerance was the cause of improvements as:
• The NYPD benefited from 7,000 extra officers.
• There was a general decline in the crime rate in major US cities at the time – including ones with no zero-tolerance approach.