Geography & Public Safety: Using Geographic Information Systems to Support Broken Windows Policing

When New York City police began
targeting graffiti crews and turnstile
jumpers instead of the city’s rampant violence
and crack use, many critics objected. But when
their strategy gave way to success, police began
seriously considering broken windows policing
as an excellent crime-reduction policy. Today,
police can use geographic information system
tools to reduce blight and graffiti in a city and
enhance broken windows policing strategies.
Broken windows policing is a theory
developed by George Kelling and James
Wilson. It suggests that if minor crimes and
disorders are targeted, major crime will be
prevented. In other words, an environmental
context sets norms of acceptable behavior—if
one window is broken, vandals will think that
breaking windows is an acceptable behavior.
Journalist Malcolm Gladwell highlights
these ideas in his book, The Tipping Point,
illustrating that many relatively benign factors
can combine to produce a “tip” in forces at
play. Criminal behavior or public disorder
grows exponentially rather than following
a straight linear path; thus, targeting small
crimes and blight can have an outstanding
effect on city crime prevention.

Crime analysts can respond to blight and
graffiti issues within a city in many different
ways. Maps using different data sources help
analysts consider the environmental factors at
play and make crime prevention a major factor
in a city’s planning and development. When
creating a plan for citywide crime prevention,
geographic information system (GIS)
analysts must combine officers’ observations
of neighborhood crime and disorder with
external data and policing initiatives.
Riverside’s Graffiti Abatement Partnership

(This article refers to Riverside CA's Graffiti abatement program. It further highlights a server-based system that utilizes GPS-enabled cameras to take images and data in the field. Public works and the PD work on the same business process. It's a great highlight of city departments working together for problem-solving initiatives).
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