Proof of Broken Windows theory in Philadelphia and New York City

Broken Windows theory ("Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety," Atlantic Magazine, 1982) posits that communities where there are vacant buildings, litter, abandoned cars etc. communicate that it's okay to commit crime.  Unfortunately, there are few examples of its implementation, as police departments did mostly "zero tolerance policing" calling it community policing.  

New York City did data-based policing, but still not community investment, and it was very successful in reducing the crime rate.  But as crime dropped police needed stuff to do, and Giuliani was more of a hard ass, so they moved to Zero Tolerance Policing--stop and frisk.

And so there is a huge contingent of progressives and academics who argue that Broken Windows is b.s.

Broken windows successfully implemented on the NYC Subway in the early 1990s. One of the only places Broken Windows was implemented truly was the NYC Subway system under David Gunn, and transit police chief William Bratton.  

It's discussed in Bratton's second autobiography, The Profession: A Memoir of Community, Race, and the Arc of Policing in America ("Bill Bratton Explains His Ideas of Good Policing," New York Times).

During his interview for chief, Gunn took him around the system.  Gunn said we can fix the trains, eliminate graffiti on them (which is why miscreants now use acid to etch cars and windows), and run them on time, but if people have to experience chaos in the stations, they won't ride.

Broken windows theory in action.  An op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "Home repairs decrease gun violence in Philadelphia," references research done at University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University that found investing in fixing up abandoned properties led to significant neighborhood improvements including a marked reduction in gun violence.

From the article:

One study of Philadelphia’s Basic Systems Repair Program found that when even one home on a block received repairs, there was a 21.9% decrease in homicide rates. And the more home repairs a block received, the more homicide rates fell. The data reflect what we already know: When people’s basic need for a safe, stable home is met, it decreases violence in our neighborhoods. 

But that message isn’t getting through to our local government. As we talked to close to 200 Grays Ferry residents, the stories poured in. Many residents have applied for home repair programs — for plumbing, roofing, weatherization, insulation, and other renovations — but haven’t heard back, have been denied, or have had to wait many years. Philly residents need home repairs, and we know home repairs are a key part of reducing violence, so why isn’t our city making them more accessible? It is literally lifesaving work to keep longtime Black residents in their homes ... 

Our Council member, Kenyatta Johnson, is now also Council president, and he has enormous power to protect affordable housing in his district and beyond. We need him to work with community advocates to pass citywide policies that prioritize low-income housing and opt the 2nd District into the mixed-income neighborhood overlay, which would require housing developers to ensure 20% of their units are affordable. 

 -- "Fighting blight by fixing up homes could bring down Philly gun violence, new study shows," WHYY/NPR
-- "Abandoned house repairs reduced nearby gun violenceAbandoned house repairs reduced nearby gun violence," Penn Today (2023)
-- "Urban Blight Remediation as a Cost-Beneficial Solution to Firearm Violence: A Citywide Cluster Randomized Trial," Journal of the American Medical Association (2022)
-- "Urban Blight Remediation as a Cost-Beneficial Solution to Firearm Violence," American Journal of Public Health (2016)

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Past blog entries include:

-- "George Kelling, co-creator of the "Broken WIndows" thesis, dies" (2019)
-- "The state of "broken windows" versus "problem oriented policing" strategies in 2016: Part 1, theory and practice," 2016 (references the speech by Ronald Clarke upon receiving the Stockholm Prize in Criminology)
-- "The state of "broken windows" versus "problem oriented policing" strategies in 2016: Part 2, what to do"
-- "Night-time safety: rethinking lighting in the context of a walking community," 2014
-- Crime prevention through environmental design and repeated burglaries at the Naylor Gardens apartment complex," 2013

Social urbanism is a related concept to Broken Windows, first introduced in Medillín, Columbia, which during the program experienced a 90% drop in the number of murders.

-- "Experiments in Social Urbanism"
-- "'Social urbanism' experiment breathes new life into Colombia's Medellin Toronto Globe & Mail
-- "Medellín's 'social urbanism' a model for city transformation," Mail & Guardian
-- "Medellín slum gets giant outdoor escalator," Telegraph
-- "Medellín, Colombia offers an unlikely model for urban renaissance," Toronto Star

I've written about ways to implement it in the US.

-- "Social urbanism and equity planning as a way to address crime, violence, and persistent poverty: (not in) DC" (2021)
-- "Creating 'community safety partnership neighborhood management programs as a management and mitigation strategy for public nuisances: Part 3 (like homeless shelters)" (2020)