broken windows policing

[alex lantsberg]

Researchers in California have affirmed the "broken windows" theory of
policing, finding: "There is a significant link between targeting minor
crime and a drop in serious crime, even when community factors such as
unemployment and the number of young people are considered." The study was
done by the California Institute for County Government at California State
University, Sacramento. "Does 'Broken Windows' Law Enforcement Reduce
Serious Crime?" examined all California counties from 1989 to 2000 and found
"a generalizealble statistical tie" between strongly enforcing minor crimes
like graffiti and property damage and a drop in felony property crime. The
study controlled for a number of social and economic factors. Its authors
say it is one of the few to look at the strategy on a large scale, rather
than a neighborhood or community level... Previous studies have tended to
focus on single jurisdictions, and haven't been able to discount numerous
other possible factors when they discovered drops in serious crime. This new
study compared both misdemeanor arrests and misdemeanor charges filed to the
overall number of arrests and charges. More misdemeanor arrests and charges
were taken to indicate a local law enforcement tendency to engage in broken
window policing. That tendency was then compared to the felony property
crime rate to see if a link existed.

http://www.cicg.org/publications/CICG_Brief_Aug_2002.pdf