The other side of the broken windows theory
When Rudy Giuliani became Mayor of NYC three decades ago, he and his police commissioner, William Bratton, applied the criminological theory known as “broken windows.” It states that the signs of disorder in a neighborhood, lik...
By Bob Weir
When Rudy Giuliani became Mayor of NYC three decades ago, he and his police commissioner, William Bratton, applied the criminological theory known as “broken windows.” It states that the signs of disorder in a neighborhood, like broken windows, encourage petty crimes and lead to more serious crimes. In other words, when minor crimes are tolerated, criminals will soon be emboldened to commit serious crimes.
Some argue that Giuliani went too far by supporting cops, who felt they could do their job of fighting crime without being penalized every time they made a move. However, no one can change the fact that crime took a nosedive during their tenure. Sadly, but as expected, Giuliani’s administration was criticized as racist because more blacks were arrested than whites. The fact that most crimes were committed by blacks didn’t have any traction with left-wing orthodoxy.
Looking back at that era, it’s almost inconceivable to imagine how we became a lawless society in only a generation. During that short span of time, broken windows has morphed from kids throwing rocks to mobs of thugs ransacking stores and carrying out huge amounts of merchandise with no fear of confrontation or arrest. Hence, extrapolating on the broken windows theory, if we’ve come to a time in which felonies are tolerated, one can only imagine how much more emboldened criminals will become in the near future. It’s already unsafe to walk the streets in most urban areas. How long before we experience similar fears in the rural and suburban areas? We either get tough on crime in the cities or prepare for an invasion of violent gangs in our once safe and cozy retreats in those areas only a few miles away.
Moreover, with millions of illegals swarming across the border during the last three years, we can expect huge increases in crime as people, mostly young men from countries all over the world, infiltrate towns and cities throughout the nation. We have yet to experience the full impact of what the Biden administration has subjected us to. No country can deal with open borders for very long without ultimately succumbing to the onslaught of humanity flooding the landscape like a tidal wave. As this ocean of aliens saturates the terrain, demanding rights, how many Americans will have the courage to fight back against an invasion that has been sanctioned by the president and his left-wing horde of nihilists?
Texas, for example, has been in the crosshairs of the left for decades. The Lone Star State is viewed by America-haters as a target that must be destroyed in order to set an example to other states with the audacity to pursue a patriotic agenda. What better way to accomplish their goal than to use the 1,241-mile border with Mexico as the murder weapon? The Texas border with Mexico is about twice as long as the borders of the other three states (California, Arizona, and New Mexico) combined. Although struggling mightily against the human cavalcade, Texas has been repeatedly thwarted by an administration that has declared war on the largest red state.
Meanwhile, Biden begins his campaign for re-election by regurgitating the events of January 6, 2021, and calling Donald Trump, and “MAGA Republicans,” a threat to democracy. During a saner time in our history, a president wanting a second term would be outlining all the accomplishments of his time in office, not trashing those who voted against him last time. Of course, anyone with a pulse knows that Biden has nothing to brag about. He’s not going to say that when Trump was in office, we were not involved in a war in Europe, another one in the Middle East, and a third one on the horizon as China moves toward an invasion of Taiwan. Furthermore, he’s not likely to mention that consumer prices have risen about 25% since he took office, or that we no longer have a southern border. I haven’t even mentioned the rampant corruption of the Biden crime family.
How insane, or arrogant, is it for a president to even contemplate re-election under those circumstances? It seems to me that the struggle between good and evil is on the ballot in November. My greatest fear is that evil has become so embedded in the fabric of our government that we the people no longer have a voice in anything they want to do to us. Crime is a major example because it directly impacts our daily life. The number-one job of government is the protection of its people. It couldn’t be more obvious that our government has failed miserably.
People will never feel safe, or be safe, until the police are allowed to do the job they were trained to do, without being subjected to every new philosophical concept conceived in the minds of those who know nothing about the job. How about ending the political platitudes and concentrating on basic police work, such as increased patrols in high-crime areas and the recognition and encouragement of good police work by the most diligent officers? Every superior officer knows, or should know, which subordinates are doing a good job in his sector of patrol. Those who are merely going in each day for a paycheck should be supervised more closely. But, in all fairness, that can happen only if cops know they won’t be facing a political firing squad each time they attempt to enforce the law.
