In the 1980s, New York was a hell of a hell. Over 1,500 violent crimes were committed there EVERY DAY. 6-7 kills per day. It was dangerous to walk the streets at night, and it was risky to ride the subway even during the day. Robbers and beggars on the subway were commonplace. Dirty and damp platforms barely lit. It was cold in the carriages, rubbish was lying underfoot, the walls and ceiling were completely covered with graffiti.
This is what they said about the New York subway:
"After standing in an endless queue for a token, I tried to lower it into the turnstile, but found that the coin acceptor was damaged. Some tramp was standing nearby: having broken the turnstile, now he demanded that passengers give the tokens to him personally. One of his friends leaned over to the coin acceptor and pulled out stuck tokens with his teeth, drooling over everything. The passengers were too scared to argue with these guys: "Here, take this damn token, what do I care!" Most people passed the turnstiles for free. It was a transport version of Dante's hell.
The city was in the grip of the worst crime epidemic in its history.
But then the inexplicable happened. Having reached a peak by 1990, crime began to decline sharply. Over the next few years, the number of murders has decreased by 2/3, and the number of serious crimes – half. By the end of the decade, there were already 75% fewer crimes in the metro than at the beginning. For some reason, tens of thousands of psychos and gopniks stopped breaking the law.
What happened? Who pressed the magic stop tap and what is this tap?
Its name – "Broken Windows Theory". Canadian sociologist Malcolm Gladwell, in his book The Tipping Point, says:
"Broken Windows" — it is the brainchild of forensics Wilson and Kelling. They claimed that crime — it is the inevitable result of a lack of order. If the window is broken and not glazed, then those passing by decide that no one cares and no one is responsible for anything. Soon more windows will be broken, and the feeling of impunity will spread throughout the street, sending a signal to the whole neighborhood. A signal calling for more serious crimes."
Gladwell deals with social epidemics. He believes that a person breaks the law not only (and not even so much) because of poor heredity or improper upbringing. What he sees around him is of great importance. Context.
Netherlands sociologists confirm this idea. They conducted a series of curious experiments. For example, like this. Litter bins were removed from the bicycle parking lot near the store and flyers were hung on the handlebars of bicycles. Began to observe – how many people will throw flyers on the pavement, and how many will be ashamed. The wall of the shop where the bikes are parked was perfectly clean.
Leaflets were thrown on the ground by 33% of cyclists.
Then the experiment was repeated, after painting the wall with meaningless drawings.
69% of cyclists have already littered.
But back to New York in the era of wild crime. In the mid-1980s, the management of the New York subway changed. New director David Gann has started work with… fight against graffiti. It cannot be said that the entire city community was delighted with the idea. "Boy, take care of the big stuff – tech issues, fire safety, crime… Don't waste our money on bullshit!" But Gunn was persistent:
"Graffiti — is a symbol of the collapse of the system. If we start the process of rebuilding the organization, the first thing to do is to defeat graffiti. Without winning this battle, no reforms will take place. We are ready to introduce new trains worth 10 million dollars each, but if we don't protect them from vandalism - we know what will happen. They will last one day, and then they will be mutilated. "
And Gunn gave the command to clear the cars. Route after route. Composition after composition. Every damn car, every single day. "For us it was like a religious act", — he said later.
Washing stations were installed at the end of the routes. If the car came with graffiti on the walls, the drawings were washed off during the turnaround, otherwise the car was taken out of service altogether. Dirty cars, from which the graffiti had not yet been washed off, were by no means mixed with clean ones. Gunn delivered a clear message to the Vandals.
"We had a depot in Harlem where the cars were parked at night," he said. and a day later they painted it all. That is, they worked 3 nights. We waited for them to finish their "work". Then we took rollers and painted over everything. The guys were upset to tears, but everything was painted over from top to bottom. This was our message for them: "Do you want to spend 3 nights disfiguring a train? Let's. But no one will see it"…
In 1990, William Bratton was hired as Chief of the Transport Police. Instead of doing serious business – serious crimes, he came to grips with… stowaways. Why?
The new police chief believed – like the problem of graffiti, a huge number of "hares" could be a signal, an indicator of the lack of order. And this encouraged the commission of more serious crimes. At that time, 170 thousand passengers made their way to the subway for free. Teenagers simply jumped over the turnstiles or broke through by force. And if 2 or 3 people were cheating the system, those around them (who otherwise wouldn't break the law) would join them. They decided that if someone didn't pay, they wouldn't either. The problem grew like a snowball.
What did Bratton do? He put up 10 disguised policemen near the turnstiles. They grabbed the "hares" one by one, handcuffed them and lined them up in a chain on the platform. The stowaways stood there until the "big catch" ended. After that, they were escorted to a police bus, where they were searched, fingerprinted and punched through the database. Many had weapons with them. Others got in trouble with the law.
"For the cops, it's been an Eldorado," Bratton said. "Every arrest was like a bag of popcorn with a surprise in it. yes, murder is upon you!.. Pretty quickly, the bad guys grew wiser, began to leave weapons at home and pay for travel."
In 1994, Rudolph Giuliani was elected mayor of New York. He pulled Bratton out of the Transportation Authority and appointed him the city's chief of police. By the way, Wikipedia says that it was Giuliani who first applied the Broken Windows Theory. Now we know that this is not the case. Nevertheless, the merit of the mayor is undeniable – he gave the command to develop a New York-wide strategy.
The police have taken a fundamentally tough stance towards petty offenders. Arrested everyone who drank and rioted in public places. Who threw empty bottles. Painted the walls. He jumped through turnstiles, begged money from drivers for wiping windows. If someone peed on the street, they went straight to jail.
The level of urban crime began to fall sharply – as fast as in the subway. Police Chief Bratton and Mayor Giuliani explain: "Small and seemingly minor offenses served as a signal for the commission of serious crimes."
The chain reaction has been halted. Thoroughly criminal New York by the end of the 1990s became the safest metropolis in America.
The magic stopcock has worked.
In our opinion, the Broken Windows Theory is quite multifaceted. You can apply it to different areas of life: communication, parenting, work…
Harmony to you!
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