Gunshots. Sirens. Arrests. Drive-by shootings. Gangs.
Sounds like Minneapolis, Chicago, or Detroit.
But it's not. It's our own Mayberry, MN.
In the last few weeks there has been many incidents. The headlines are simple.
3 suspects in drive-by shooting appear in court
Five arrested in shooting; neighbors still worried
Is Rochester no longer a safe city?
What can we do?
We are witnessing in real time the Problem of Broken Windows.
In their 1989 article, James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling tell us:
"The conventional police strategy is "incident-oriented"--a citizen calls to report an incident, such as a burglary, and the police respond by recording information relevant to the crime and then trying to solve it. ...But if responding to incidents is all that the police do, the community problems that cause or explain many of these incidents will never be addressed, and so the incidents will continue and their number will perhaps increase."
But the source is not poverty, but social structure and character:
"If the first broken window in a building is not repaired, then people who like breaking windows will assume that no one cares about the building and more windows will be broken. Soon the building will have no windows. Likewise, when disorderly behavior--say, rude remarks by loitering youths--is left unchallenged, the signal given is that no one cares. The disorder escalates, possibly to serious crime."
In another article they describe how this cycle of increasing disorder results in the decay and decline of communities:
"But we tend to overlook or forget another source of fear: the fear of being bothered by disorderly people - not violent people or necessarily criminals, but disreputable or obstreperous or unpredictable people: panhandlers, drunks, addicts, rowdy teenagers, prostitutes, loiterers, the mentally disturbed."
In short, the job of the police is not merely to solve crimes, but is first and foremost to maintain order. Disorder is linked with crime, so goes the broken windows theory.
At present Rochester MN has a serious problem with disorder.
What does the City Council say? What about Mayor Brede?
Come to the neighborhood forum and ask them.
Thursday, September 11, 7:00 PM at the Boys and Girls Club
3 comments:
I'd like to hear from the youths who live in the community that have to deal with the violence and influences daily come speak also. Tell us their ideas of what might help. We need to work together.
I hope they do, Penny.
Interesting...... http://aroundrochestermn.blogspot.com
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