Walking down the streets of New York City, you may see splotches of what once was graffiti covered up and turned into grey patches on walls. This is a legacy of “broken windows” policing. In a March 1982 article in The Atlantic, George L. Kelling and James Q. Wilson described their philosophy of policing that was focused more on personal relations between police officers and members of the community. Additionally, the article argued that “police ought to protect communities as well as individuals” and that they must place a strong emphasis on the “importance of maintaining, intact, communities without broken windows”. Thus, broken windows policing was born. This theory takes the neighborhood out of the community’s hands and gives it over to the police, who make judgments on the community’s behalf, which usually end up harming— rather than helping — the community. Cracking down on street level petty crimes like public intoxication, vandalism, or loitering only fosters an atmosphere where cops are feared instead of respected and sought for in an emergency.
A major motivation for implementing Broken Windows strategy was the theory that by policing misdemeanor, forms of disorder would eventually lead to a reduction in major crime. According to this theory, taking care of the “broken windows” issues – cleaning up graffiti, enforcing public intoxication laws, and, of course, literally repairing broken windows — would elevate the character and spirit of a neighborhood and repel more serious crime. However, because of the way it was implemented and who enforced it, broken windows policing did not have the intended effect of beautifying neighborhoods or reducing crime. Instead, it disregarded graffiti as a form of art and expression and viewed alcoholism and drug addiction as character flaws, rather than serious public health issues. In short, despite its proponents’ claims, there is no evidence that disorder causes crime or that “broken windows” policing reduces serious crime. What broken windows policing did succeed in was locking up minorities and those living in poverty for low level victimless crimes, which enforces cycles of poverty and oppression while weakening the strained relationship police have with the communities they serve.
Thankfully, broken windows policing has been largely disproven. However, another strategy to ensure and install order and security in New York City today has since been enabled in its place. When the Bloomberg Administration overhauled parks in New York City, an intricate part of city living and community relations was taken from the people. Macombs Dam Park and part of John Mullaly Park were eliminated to make way for the new Yankee Stadium, chopping down 300 trees in the process in the greenspace starved Bronx. The privatization of public parks strips the nature of a park as a place for all and turns it into a commodified space. Instead of being run by neighborhoods and communities, many New York City parks have CEOs of real estate, retail companies, law firms and banks as their heads. The Conservancies and BIDs that control these parks remove transparency and accountability from the parks and can regulate them as they see fit.
Privatizing public space by definition takes spaces from the public, and puts it into private hands. When a park is privatized, the people who frequently enjoy it and put the most care into it are disregarded by the private entity that now controls it. What usually happens is vendors open up in the formerly public space (while paying rent), certain activities are banned from the space, and the character of the space is completely transformed from one made by and for the people into one that is now used primarily to make a profit.
Privatization as a form of policing is the new broken windows. Corporations effectively control who is allowed in their space and what activities go on. Public spaces, which were once community centers, places for an impromptu pickup game, or a place to people watch are now sterile corporate atmospheres creeping in and ruining the purpose and feeling of public spaces and parks.
Now, corporate sponsored murals and street art line the streets of New York City. What would once land someone in jail can now be found by an Instagram hashtag.
