Broken windows’ is not a metaphor about art, architecture or poetry. It is a sociological theory about what makes residents feel unsafe in run-down neighbourhoods. ‘Broken windows’ symbolise decline—city, even national. Experts refer to Decaying Detroit, Beat-up Bronx, Broken Britain.
In most places, crime has gone down, but citizens feel the opposite. This disconnect is because murder, larceny and bank robberies have come down. But street crime—what people experience or witness—has increased significantly. Shoplifting, car theft, knifing, phone or jewellery snatching have increased by 60 to 90 per cent in the UK.
Psychologists say crime comparisons from the past are irrelevant to the public’s lived experience. Thus, President Donald Trump strikes a chord among his MAGA base when he talks about “carnage on the streets”, “migrant crime” and sending troops to “crime-infested Chicago”, even though violent crime has declined in the US. Still, public order is undermined when beat policemen dwindle, when sentencing and prosecution rates fall.
In the UK, where statistics are well-maintained, half the public don’t trust the police and nearly 40 per cent think they are doing a bad job. Citizens don’t even bother to report minor offences anymore.
American social scientists George Kelling and James Q. Wilson coined the ‘broken windows’ theory in 1982. They argued that visible signs of disrepair, such as broken windows, dilapidated buildings, abandoned properties trigger criminal behaviour in that neighbourhood. The decay signals that residents have lost control or are beyond caring, encouraging vagabonds and vandals to commit minor, and then bigger offences. Potholed streets become scenes of crime and despair, with stray groups, huddled homeless people, aggressive beggars and stoned drug addicts. Those who can, like the whites in Detroit, flee, and petty criminals fill the vacuum. The theory proposes that by addressing minor transgressions and maintaining a well-ordered environment, authorities can prevent greater disorder and crime.
The ‘broken windows’ theory was first put into practice in New York in the 1990s through community policing. Crime rates fell, encouraging other countries to implement the plan. However, it is unclear if this method directly reduced serious crime. But it did improve public perception of safety and community cohesion—which curtailed anti-social behaviour. It reinforced the assertion of Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities. She theorised that “eyes on the street”—the presence of local residents and passersby in public spaces—deter crime and enhances safety. Studies in Manchester have shown that improved community policing reduces crime rate much more than severely punishing offences. The British government has earmarked an extra £200million funding for neighbourhood policing by 2029, involving 13,000 community police officers.
It is tempting for citizens to blame the authorities for all societal ills. Yet, the public can step up by contributing to safeguarding their streets. In 1969, during the violent Naxal uprising, it was not policemen but neighbourhood husbands and sons who patrolled the streets of Kolkata to make families feel safe. That same year, an American urban experiment by psychologist Philip Zimbardo revealed that an abandoned car in Bronx was vandalised in minutes, but an abandoned car remained untouched in Palo Alto, Silicon Valley. Other researchers expanded his pioneering conclusion: social neglect in a neighbourhood encourages vandalism. Some neighbourhoods are scary, but Kolkata regained its mojo, Bronx, the bustling birthplace of hip hop, is vibrant, though some neighbourhoods are still best avoided. With plum military exports, the UK’s GDP is set to rise. Britain is not broken. But the ‘broken windows’ theory contains shards of truth for all countries.
Pratap is an author and journalist.