Broken Windows Essay

Words: 389
Pages: 2

Broken windows states that small things matter in a community, if these small issues are not addressed, it can lead to more serious things. Disorderly conditions and behaviors, such as graffiti, panhandling, and loitering, if left ignored in a community can lead to more serious crime and urban decay. Many praise Broken window policing for the decline in crime in many major urban areas, while others argue that it has done nothing to prevent serious crimes. Kelling and Sousa’s 2001 study of New York precincts concluded that the broken windows strategy was responsible for the significant decline in crime in the mid to late 1990s. However, Harcourt and Ludwig later concluded that there is no empirical evidence that suggests that broken windows …show more content…
Some would argue that broken windows policing leads to more altercations between police and civilians, leading to more tickets and arrests. Many police officers use minor offenses such as selling loose cigarettes as a pretext to search for more serious contraband, like guns or drugs. If police’s job is to focus on minor quality of life infractions, many may begin to broaden their idea of what and who is deviant causing them to treat a jaywalker the same way they would treat a person suspected of murder. That’s when broken windows policing can lead to incidents of police brutality. Overall, police brutality is an internal police issue, it has to do with how they train officers to deal and interact with different people. We all have innate biases that might cause us to view people differently, however the police need to be trained to remain objective. Just because you see a young black male standing in front of a corner store doesn’t necessarily mean he’s selling drugs or up to no good, he could just be waiting for his uber. I don’t want to bring up the race card, but race relations does play a role in police brutality, who do we so as more hostile or more likely to carry a concealed weapon. So there might be a small connection between broken windows and police brutality, however, it is not the sole reason or