Essay Name: Community Perception's of Crime Articles: "Broken Windows" by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling and "From Institutional Jobless Ghettos

Essay by shizzle69College, UndergraduateA+, March 2004

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Community Perception's of Crime

A community perception of crime is more important than the actual presence off crime. More officers patrolling a neighborhood on foot than in car gives the presence of safety in that neighborhood. These officers spend time with the community and get to know them. These officers learn to distinguish strangers from "regulars", kicking out strangers as a result. Other cases where neighborhoods that leave a broken window unfix tend to encourage more broken windows, because it gives the impression that no one cares and over time more windows get broken initiating the degradation of that neighborhood. This essay is going to be based on two essays "Broken Windows" by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling and "From Institutional Jobless Ghettos" William Julius Wilson discussing how each one views the relationship between community control, poverty and crime similarly and differently.

Communities feel safer when officers patrol their neighborhoods regularly.

These officers spend time and get to know the community as a whole. They learned to tell "regulars" apart from strangers. These strangers often came from other neighborhoods and hanged out on their blocks The more the officers patrolled the more they developed a closer relationship with the "regulars" of the neighborhoods. This shows an excellent example of community control when an effective plan is implemented.

Crime rates do not have to be down to give a strong presence of neighborhood safety.

Officers who patrol on foot talk to the "regulars" and development a bond with officers. These bonds allow the resident to feel safe despite crime rates statistics.

Officers walking beats had higher morale, greater job satisfaction, and a more favorable attitude toward citizens in their neighborhoods than did officers assigned to patrol cars...Foot patrol has no effect on crime; it merely fools the...