By Richard Garvey
Venice Resident and Public Health Researcher
Last weekend the wonderful mural at Market and Main (a block from my house) was tagged by some jerks.
Some of my neighbors point to this and say that this is a sign that the neighborhood will soon be overrun with crime, and we need to institute the “broken-windows” policing theory here in Venice.
The gist of that theory is that if you flood an area with police and cite every infraction you can, from tagging, to loitering, to jaywalking, you will reduce crime. The thought is that if you get these (mainly young and poor, sometimes homeless) folks into jail for a minor offense, you will stop them from committing a larger offense down the road.
I totally disagree with this concept. Broken-windows policing is terrible for the police and terrible for the community. It leads to selective enforcement of petty crimes, and ruins the relationship between the police and the community.
Anyone, who has been to Men’s Central, Lynwood, Twin Towers, or especially Wayside jails, will tell you that those places only serve to breed desperation and teach people to become criminals. Then when folks come out, they are treated differently and feel differently for the rest of their lives. It should be our goal to do everything we can to keep people OUT of jail. It creates a culture of distrust and fear between the community and police, which we have seen a lot of lately, including the recent LAPD killings of Brenden Glenn and Jason Davis.
I don’t believe that one act of graffiti leads to more crime. That mural, which I love so much, is right at the bus stop. It gets tagged a few times a year (admittedly last week’s was a bad one.) The correct solution is to do what always happens with this mural. When it gets tagged, we make sure it gets repainted to its former splendor. It’s a hassle, but it shows pride in the neighborhood.
I don’t think it is productive to waste LAPD time ticketing people for loitering, jaywalking, etc. When LAPD Chief Bratton was here he tried this policy downtown, and I personally witnessed the consequences. He is widely credited for implementing this policy in NYC, and he came here to bring broken-
windows policing to LA.
I worked on Skid Row during his entire tenure, and saw the actual effect of his implementation of broken-windows policing down there. He sent 50 extra officers to an eight square block area, and I saw them constantly harass people who had nowhere to go. Police gave them tickets they could not pay and then locked them up when they failed to pay or appear in court. They teamed up with the corporate funded BID (Business Improvement District) patrol to terrorize the local poor and homeless population.
Not once did I, or any of my interviewers, get bothered, and we jaywalked and loitered just as much as the homeless folks did. The effect was to make it an “us versus them” thing, force displacement to other parts of town, and misery for those who already had it bad. Sure Bratton could claim that he got some people off the street but at what cost?
Skid Row in LA was cemented in the 70’s when the City decided to concentrate all services down there. That’s why Department of Mental Health is there, 5 major missions, 3 different walk-in health clinics, 2 different walk-in mental health clinics, the VA and 13 free meals a day. There are Independent living apartment buildings, and single-room-occupancy buildings. Was that a perfect solution? NO. But that’s where we are today. When you drive people outside of there you drive them AWAY from services.
A lot of my neighbors want to get the poor and homeless out of Venice. I hope they change their minds about advocating for broken-windows policing as a way to accomplish their goal, as opposed to emergency shelters and transitional housing programs to serve as a bridge to permanent housing… I see calls for more police and even the formation of a BID patrol in Venice. I think it will do more harm than good.
Policing is what Venice sorely needs to restore some order. We have 16 million folks coming here every year and its a lawless cesspool. Apologizing for taggers (the most recent one got 4 years in jail for tagging the POW memorial) is NOT the answer. There are registered sex offenders prowling these homeless encampments and selling meth and herorin to children at the beach. We NEED more citations and a minimal police presence to establish some control. Unless you think a meth head drug dealer running over folks on OFW is a good thing. You and Bonin are destroying this neighborhood with your outdated apologies for these criminals. RESPECT property rights and we will all be much happier.
Why don’t one of you three, or all three, write an article/s in response to Rick Garvey’s article. Update likes to provide readers with both sides of the story. Or, perhaps, you feel you have covered it sufficiently? Up to you guys.
Rick’s characterization of the Broken Windows theory of policing and maintaining the quality-of-life here in Venice is fatally flawed and inaccurate. Venice will never be flooded or saturated with a police presence, so why infer it? One of act of tagging? C’mon Rick. Is there not a tree, private fence, sidewalk, curbing, home or local business that has not been a victim of this act of destruction sometimes passed off as “art?” Right now, there is no consequence for personal or public property destruction. That needs to change. The longer such desecration is tolerated, it eventually leads to greater property destruction such as park benches, bus benches, mailboxes, and other targets of such mindless tampering of our homes and overall neighborhood.
Congratulations Rick! You are participating in The Broken Windows Policy yourself by reporting the mural defacing so it can be repaired! The policy simply means to stop the small crimes by repairing vandalism, keeping the area clean and by not allowing small crimes to go unchecked you will discourage further occurrences and escalation. It is up to us as a neighborhood to make sure the small things are taken care of and repaired!
I agree Lee. The general rule of thumb is, if you get tagged, clean it up the moment you see it. Trust me, from someone who used to tag many moons ago as a kid, you tag where there are other tags. Broken windows is about putting the responsibility on the resident…keep your side of the street clean. Be a good neighbor. And if a crime occurs, nail the criminal. Crimes are less apt to occur when the residents watch out for themselves and each other by reporting crimes when they occur. Its not about selecting only the poor for persecution. Its about selecting out the people who commit crimes, both violent and property. Its ridiculous to think that windows theory does not have an effect to make our neighborhoods better. Until you come up with a better policy, ill keep a watch out to protect my neighborhood and my neighbors.