I oppose the Broken Windows policing policy for two separate reasons. One is the implicit bias tied with the execution of the policy as well as the use of fear as the primary mode of social control. While the idea is sound in theory it can’t be practiced in a city like New York City; a city that is home to hundreds of ethnicities and immigrants of different socioeconomic classes.
The policy pushes social biases in action. The development of a quota system motivates enforcers to act to an unnecessary degree on those ethnicities who are “more likely” to commit a crime or economic classes that have “more of an incentive” to commit a crime. With such expectations, enforcers are bound to not only hold themselves to a higher level to civilians (which they are, but should still be understanding) but also be making unnecessary arrests to ensure that they get their paycheck at the end of the month.
The policy is also a policy of fear. The policy doesn’t teach civilians why crime is bad, it shows the repercussions of committing anything remotely close to a crime. At that point, you are not teaching, you are disciplining. For example, when a lion performs in a carnival, you don’t call him a well-taught animal, you call him a well-trained animal. The lion doesn’t know his act will impress the crowd, he just knows if he doesn’t do it, he’ll get whipped. The animal is living in fear. Humans are not animals, we have the capacity to learn the difference between right and wrong.
-Madhav Bhatt
