Imagine that you are walking alone towards a park, but this park seems to be dilapidated and dirty. You can't tell when was the last time anyone cleaned. If you had waste to dispose of, you wouldn't think twice about adding their share, because you would feel less guilty because it was already dirty. This is the basic concept of the broken windows theory. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The broken windows theory is a criminal justice theory that seeks to combat petty crime by stopping deviant behavior such as panhandling and graffiti. In theory, if completed efficiently, it prevents minor crimes and at the same time deters people from committing crimes sought as more serious. This is because from an outside perspective, it would appear that people care about this particular area, which means the city cares, which in turn means the police care. As the spread continues, people realize that the area is on the "rise" and take pride in its cleanliness, so maintenance continues. The broken windows theory is not only a deterrent for the offender, but also for the benefit of the citizen offering law. A study conducted by the Police Foundation of Washington states that “residents of neighborhoods patrolled on foot appeared to feel safer than people in other areas, tended to believe that crime had been reduced, and appeared to take fewer steps to protect themselves from crime ( stay at home with the doors closed, for example). Additionally, citizens in the foot patrol zones had a more favorable opinion of the police than those living elsewhere. And street patrol officers had higher morale, greater job satisfaction, and more favorable attitudes toward the citizens of their neighborhoods than officers assigned to patrol cars.” People tend to feel safe when their mind is at ease. This was surprising to the researchers because they saw that there was no visible decrease in crime in the neighborhood. The world of criminal justice is still divided over whether the theory can work in real life, in all places. There have been cases where the theory has been put into practice such as in 1993 in New York City. A newly elected mayor named Rudy Giuliani wanted to see a change in the crime areas. Alongside Giuliani was Police Commissioner Howard Safir, the two created two policies that helped the theory succeed. These two policies have been implemented under the names of Quality of Life and Zero Tolerance. They had a police crackdown on minor crimes that weakened the city or made it look “bad.” The crimes were not serious and in fact did little harm to society. These crimes were public drinkers, subway dodgers, public urinators, and even "squeegee men" (people who cleaned windshields and demanded payment for stopped cars. Many people disagreed with Giuliani and Safir, but with their dismay both petty and serious crime rates have dropped dramatically. One of the major oppositions of the theory is the question of how to implement it in real life. In theory this can be done in almost any public space a public park. The first step would be to clean up all the rubbish and graffiti in and around the area, perhaps install some new or newer looking equipment and introduce laws that would limit sneaky behavior such as/304465/