rollingstone | Broken Windows has left a major footprint on modern American society,
primarily on the 65 million or so people who have criminal records in
this country. That's a population roughly the size of France.
You can easily find the collateral damage from this vast illegal war
on crime just by walking into certain neighborhoods and asking. From bad
arrests to beatings to broken bones, there are enough horror stories to
fill a thousand Ken Burns documentaries. But good luck finding any of
that misconduct and abuse on an official record. What you mostly find
when you search are a lot of convictions and a whole lot of statistical
noise. The dirt, as it often is in this country, is mostly hidden away.
The real problem with Broken Windows is that it brings the same
attitude to neighborhoods that corrections officers bring to prisons.
"You have guys locked up for serious crimes, you're supposed to be
controlling them," says Anthony Miranda. "But in neighborhoods, you're
not supposed to be controlling people. You're supposed to be working
with them. You're supposed to be serving them. And that attitude is
what's missing."
As a former minority officer, Miranda says he and others like him are
especially motivated to find solutions: "We're on both sides. We're in
the force, but we also live in these neighborhoods. So we need to find
an answer."
But the numbers game has rotted the police system to the point where
it can't see the forest for the trees. "They don't see it," says
Miranda. "They're too ignorant, and it's a shame."
