On Thursday, October 26, 2023 Pepperdine School of Public Policy hosted a conference entitled, "Revisiting Broken Windows: Connecting Theory to Policy for America's Public Safety."
Across America’s cities, crime is rising - but it’s an inconsistent and strange picture. While some cities are seeing only modest increases in murder rates, “quality of life” crimes - from “smash and grab” robberies to auto theft and property damage are consistently exploding. It brings to mind the work of social scientists, James Q. Wilson and George Kelling, best known by the phrase, “broken windows theory”. Looking at the growing crime rates in American cities back in the 1970s, Wilson and Kelling concluded that the reduction in enforcement of lower level property crimes created a foundation of lawlessness that enabled higher degrees of felony.
In recent years, with growing suspicion of police behavior in a number of America's communities, the work of Wilson and Kelling has come under increasing attack, resulting in a variety of new laws reducing punishments for property crimes. But with these increasing crime rates, is it time to revisit the “broken windows theory” and our response to crime?
Through an afternoon of panels and keynotes, policy experts and policymakers discussed and debate the relevance of Wilson's and Kelling's theory to today's public safety challenges. As a graduate school, that served as James Q. Wilson's "academic home" from 1999 to 2012, the Pepperdine School of Public Policy is committed to regularly exploring the impact of his work on today's public policy issues.
PANEL 1: A Scholarly Review of
“Broken Windows”
MODERATOR
Kurt Wilson
Executive Director, Western Riverside
Council of Governments
PANELISTS
Naomi Harlin Goodno
Professor of Law, Pepperdine
University Caruso School of Law
Peter Moskos
Professor in the Department of Law, Police
Science, and Criminal Justice Administration,
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
David Thacher
Associate Professor of Public Policy and
Urban Planning, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan
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