Disorder in the eye of the beholder: Black and White residents’ perceptions of disorder on high-crime street segments

Research Summary

Although broken windows theory has had strong influence on policy and practice in policing, there are still many questions and debates about the nature of disorder itself and, particularly, how people perceive and define it. The current study aims to examine whether Black and White residents living on the same street segments in Baltimore City, Maryland perceive similar levels of social and physical disorder. We find strong and significant differences between Black and White residents after controlling for key sociodemographic variables and street-level covariates.

Policy Implications

Our findings suggest that police efforts to reduce disorder are less likely to be noticed by Black residents and that any benefits from targeting disorder may vary across places depending on the racial composition of streets. In this context, police must recognize racial differences in perceptions of disorder when developing disorder policing interventions.