Fixing Broken Neighborhoods: How Police Can Ensure Neighborhood Safety and Community Well-Being

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.200321.074How to use a DOI?

Keywords

broken windows, collective efficacy, procedural justice, order maintenance policing

Abstract

The “broken windows” theory (Kelling & Wilson, 1982) is among the most studied and applied ideas in the United States criminal justice system. Broken windows policing played an important part in getting police to pay attention to physical and social disorder and other lower-level offenses. While it did effect rates of crime and disorder, its misapplications also had detrimental effects on communities most in need of police intervention. This paper reexamines the original exposition of the broken windows theory and explains its misuse. By drawing on theories of procedural justice, police legitimacy, and collective efficacy, as well as recent developments in the use of data to understand the situational correlates of crime and disorder, this paper argues that police should re-commit to their basic order maintenance function to ensure neighborhood safety and increase community well-being.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Michael J. Jenkins
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/03/24
TI  - Fixing Broken Neighborhoods: How Police Can Ensure Neighborhood Safety and Community Well-Being
BT  - Proceedings of the XVII International Research-to-Practice Conference dedicated to the memory of M.I. Kovalyov (ICK 2020)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 7
EP  - 13
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200321.074
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.200321.074
ID  - Jenkins2020
ER  -