Progress Now Action

A week ago I wrote about George Kelling, the father of "broken windows" policing and the legacy of lawsuits and civil rights abuses the policy has reaped over the years. I basically stated that the theory--supported by our mayor and with millions from our city--was corrupt, meticulously seeking out the "disorderly elements" of society, or as Kelling called them, the "panhandlers, drunks, addicts, rowdy teenagers, prostitutes, loiterers, the mentally disturbed."

But let's be frank here. The Denver Police Department has one of the worst human rights records in the country. "Broken windows" policing is only going to agitate the problem and provide a convenient excuse to wipe homelessness under the carpet. The best solution would be an authentic Citizen Review Commission that would have the power to affect the police department and make pertinent decisions regarding an officer's conduct.

But before we can move towards a solution we need to understand and expose the problems blocking us from it. And right now, there is another study refuting Kelling's theory; and the mayor's office might be starting to realize that they've hooked their wagon to a PR disaster:

But Bernard Harcourt, a University of Chicago law professor, and Jens Ludwig, associate professor of public policy at Georgetown University, in their upcoming article argue: "From a public policy perspective, the faith that many policymakers place in the efficacy of broken windows is in the end just faith, rather than the result of convincing empirical evidence."

They said that a 2001 study Kelling co- wrote on broken windows is flawed. Kelling, who helped implement the broken-windows theory in New York during the 1990s, said in the study that a crackdown on misdemeanor crimes in New York reduced felony crimes...

Now it seems the mayor's office is playing down the issue. "Broken Windows" has gone from a bold new "action assessment" to being "merely one tool" of many.

"They are helping the Denver Police Department manage through a period of extraordinary change: using real-time data to effectively deploy resources, target crime trends and empower district commanders to enlist a variety of proven policing and problem-solving strategies to reduce crime," Lindy Eichenbaum Lent said Monday. "Broken windows is merely one tool being used in a much broader, comprehensive strategy."

Proven? Yeah sure. Blah blah blah.

Kelling has now gotten his phone number to the papers and is speaking on his behalf, which is a good thing, because it makes him sound like Jon Caldara. Always talking about those darn "ivory tower" people while implementing programs to screw the poor, troubled, and helpless.

In a February National Review article, Kelling and Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton called broken-windows critics "ivory tower academics - many of whom have never sat in a patrol car, walked or bicycled a beat, lived in or visited regularly troubled violent neighborhoods, or collected any relevant data of their own 'on the ground."'

Yes Mr. Kelling, I'm sure you know so much about the streets, and what it's like to actually live on them. And it's not like you're an academic, being a college professor at Rutgers University and all. You'll also notice that Bratton is a long time ally of Kelling's and is the reason why his policies were in LA and New York in the first place.

When can Denver get it's money back from this guy?