Broken Windows Concept - Essay Example

In 1985, George L. Kelling was hired as a consultant to the New York City and David L. Gunn implemented measures to test the broken windows theory. The presence of graffiti keenly targeted, and subway system cleaned in an effort from 1984 until 1990. Department of police Boston and the Los Angeles Police Department have hired Kelling as a consultant. In 1990, William J. Bratton was made the chief head of the New York City Transit Police (Kelling & Wilson, 1982). In 1993 after his election as Mayor of New York City, Republican Ruddy Giuliani used the police commissioner position to implement the strategy.

Giuliani was dedicated to putting the theory into action. Bratton through the police had the law against subway fare evasion, public drinking, graffiti vandals strictly enforced. In 2007 and 2008 experiments were conducted by Kees Keizer colleagues of the University of Groningen to determine whether the effect of the existing visible disorder increased the incidence of crime such as littering and theft. The experiment included an urban location and done in two different ways. In one condition, the place was maintained orderly and free from broken windows and graffiti.

A later study indicated that the disorder is an exogenous construct that has independent effects on how people feel about their neighborhoods a contradiction to Wilson and Kelling's proposition. Many challengers and critics say that other than the physical disorder there are other factors that influence crime rate. In order to reduce the crime rate, these factors need attention.