Bachman/Northwest Highway Community Association

"Fixing Broken Windows"

October, 2000 - Meeting Seminar Topic

Disorder and crime are usually inextricably linked, in a kind of developmental sequence. Social psychologists and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and is left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken. This is as true in nice neighborhoods as in run-down ones.

Similarly, untended behavior leads to the breakdown of community controls. A stable neighborhood of families who care for their homes, help watch each others children, and frown on unacceptable social behavior can quickly change to an inhospitable and frightening jungle. A piece of property is abandoned, weeds grow up, a window is smashed. Adults stop scolding rowdy children; the children, emboldened, become more rowdy. Stable families start to move out. Teens gather in front of corner stores. Fights occur. Litter accumulates. Vagrants start drinking in front of the stores. Inebriated street people are allowed to sleep in public places. Store patrons are approached by panhandlers.

At this point, it isn’t inevitable that serious crime will result or violent attacks occur. But many residents will think that crime is on the rise, and they will modify their behavior accordingly. They will use the streets less often, and when on the streets will distance themselves from others.

Such an area is vulnerable to criminal invasion. It is more likely that here, rather than in places where people are confident they can regulate public behavior, that drugs will change hands, prostitutes will solicit, cars will be vandalized, and muggings will occur. Serious street crime flourishes in areas in which disorderly behavior goes unchecked. The link is similar to the process whereby one broken window becomes many.

We must return to our long-abandoned view that individuals, as well as the police, ought to help protect communities. Our crime statistics and victimization surveys measure individual losses, but do not measure communal losses, just as physicians now recognize the importance of fostering health rather than simply treating illness. We must maintain our Bachman Community, without “broken windows”.

Each of us can help in this regard, without actually confronting potentially violent criminals. We can call TXU to replace burned out lights on the street where we live. We can report potholes to 3-1-1. We can call the police to have abandoned vehicles towed. We can remove advertising flyers from telephone and light poles. We can report high weeds to code. We can call police when drunks or panhandlers are standing around at our neighborhood convenience store. We can STOP waiting for someone else to do everything for us. We can START accepting responsibility for what happens in our neighborhood and START doing something about it. If everyone will be responsible for their own little area, the whole neighborhood will improve. Friends, this is easy. Let’s DO IT !!