Broken Windows Perspective

Broken Windows Perspective The world is a scary place. Many of us live in urban areas, where crime rates are reaching all time highs. Yet, still our phobias over crime may tend to be exaggerated. Still, it is clear through the broken windows perspective that allowing the physical space of neighborhoods to decay also results in the increase of crimes in the area; therefore, helping initiate cleaner streets helps hinder crimes, but also helps calm public fears about crime as well.

The roots of the broken windows go deep into our history with associating aesthetics to character. Essentially, the common thought is that neighborhoods that are well maintained are also proactive in helping law enforcement keep their areas free of crim. A modern example of this is seen in the case of New York, where there was a correlation made between physical image of neighborhoods and concepts about crime (Stevens 2009). Degraded physical spaces tend to portray a very negative image of the neighborhood.

Public fear of crime was increased because of the decay of the physical space around them (Wilson & Kelling 2011). Thus, there is a visual representation of crime through the decaying landscape. Disarray in the streets then breeds more crime. There is therefore this vicious downward cycle of decay which can be extremely difficult to turn around once heavily progressed (Wilson & Kelling 2011). According to the broken windows metaphor, poorly kept neighborhoods help facilitate not only crime itself, but also the over exaggerated fear of crime itself.

When ignored by the residents, broken windows and other unsightly signs like graffiti, send a clear sign that no one cares about the neighborhood (Stevens 2009). This suggests that the neighborhood will turn a blind eye to crime, as it has its own physical representative space.

In order to remedy the crime rates of a neighborhood, it would be a crucial factor to help clean up the aesthetic feel of the neighborhood in order to help foster greater community involvement and dedication to improving the character and physical space of the neighborhood. Police and law enforcement organizations have used this as a way to reach out and work with communities, instead of against them, in the more collaborated fight to rid neighborhoods of unwanted crime and unsightly grime.

Yet, there is some criticism of the broken windows concept. There are litigation concerns concerning stereotyping and potential racial profiling (Stevens 2009). Criticism of watchman style policing posits different ideas that either the neighborhood will not be as active as needed, or that it will simply be ineffective and only generate more problems than solutions. Essentially, the opposition is raising issues of Constitutional rights.

Should everyday citizens be allowed to police their neighbors? Moreover, police officer criticism reveals that many within the system have little faith that neighborhoods will actually take such an active part in riding themselves of crime. There is an organizational resistance to change that wants to continue using the same police structure that has been used for generations, and refuses to turn to new innovations for solutions to ongoing problems. However, despite criticism, implementing elements of the broken windows theory can do nothing but benefit communities.

Fixing the city's broken windows and the rest of its visual facade is a police and governance.