In September 2017 in a locally published commentary, I observed “Broken windows; Lompoc is full of them”; this commentary was based on a theory by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George Kelling in 1982 that used broken windows as a metaphor for disorder within neighborhoods.
Expanding on the theory, they wrote: “If the first broken window in a building is not repaired, the 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.” They argued that if minor crimes are not addressed, then criminals would be emboldened to commit more serious crimes.
There are several examples of the broken window theory in Lompoc and statewide, and I don’t mean just broken glass. They are so called quality-of-life crimes that can rot the core of society.
Shopping carts, stolen from markets, are scattered all over town and are frequently left at recycling drop-off points or near homeless encampments. In 2016 the Lompoc City Council approved a shopping cart ordinance that required business owners to contain the carts on their property, declaring that it was unlawful to abandon them on any sidewalk, street, or other public area, or upon private property or a vacant lot.
Without any consideration of the blighted impact this was having on the community, a future City Council majority discouraged enforcement of the law, so the number of abandoned carts increased. The carts can still be seen all over town.
The attitude of a previous City Council majority was especially troubling because they publicly refused to take any action to help resolve the problem, instead relying on personal responsibility, which appears to be an endangered concept.
The homeless population has been growing in Lompoc, and no one seems to know why. Some of these folks are mentally handicapped; others have criminal backgrounds and they have made little “camps” in commercial areas, parks, the riverbed and in alleys. Some can be seen wandering down the middle of busy city streets, sleeping near businesses, panhandling, and causing disturbances in commercial areas.
While politicians ponder how to deal with this situation, it only grows until the more aggressive homeless folks begin to break into abandoned houses and businesses, shoplift, commit assaults, set fires, and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
The level of disorder and incivility within our community is increasing every year. Since enforcement activity can’t keep up with the number of violations, and a previous council majority didn’t support an aggressive enforcement program, it caused the cancer to grow.
There are many forms of crime that evolve from these conditions; just knowing that community leaders don’t care about “minor violations of established laws” can lead some to keep pushing the envelope and commit increasingly brazen crimes.
Lawmakers in Sacramento have reduced penalties for shoplifting and released thousands of convicted felons onto our streets, and some district attorneys are refusing to prosecute many serious crimes. This leads people who may be prone to ignoring the common rules of an orderly society to think that the absence of any punitive action for minor offenses means that it’s OK to commit more serious crimes.
An example is shoplifting, aka petty theft. Thieves who steal from retail businesses know that they won’t go to jail if they steal property that doesn’t exceed the limit established by state lawmakers. Some use the calculators on their cellphones to make sure what they are taking doesn’t exceed the magic number. Even if caught, they will likely only be issued a ticket, which is the same thing you get if you run a stop sign.
Shoplifting is a daily occurrence; public drunkenness, disruptive behavior, spousal abuse, burglaries, and a host of other “minor crimes” impact neighborhoods daily. Youth gangs are prone to “prove themselves” at the expense of other gang members, and frequently their encounters involve the injury of death of innocent bystanders.
Moving forward to 2021, there have been 42 shootings in the city of Lompoc since Jan. 1; which is a significant increase over the previous years.
Is this a result of “broken windows”? State law says that it’s a crime to challenge a person in a public place to fight, but the penalty is minimal. Police will tell you that a verbal altercation can rapidly escalate from mere words or pushing and shoving to a shooting. There are numerous examples of “road rage” shootings, shootings resulting from family disputes and gang conflicts.
The other night, someone was going down the street on bicycle in a low-income area with a ball bat breaking out car windows. He didn’t hurt anyone, but all of the victims will now have to come up with some cash for an unexpected repair while the scofflaw goes free.
The failure to take care of thefts, illegal camping, assaults, malicious property damage, and other crimes some people consider to be “minor” seems to have led to a lack of concern by some people for the impact of their lawlessness.
It may seem like a small and insignificant effort, but in the past, service organizations and faith-based groups served to eradicate graffiti, clean up alleyways and medians, and help make a difference in our community. Why can’t the City Council and city manager invest in the relationships that can bring these efforts back and enable the community to receive the benefits of these good-hearted servants and their free labor? They have even helped return shopping carts for free!
The police chief recently set a special enforcement team in place; they have already made arrests for assaults and a felon in possession of a gun. But this small team will be pressed hard as the mountain of crime, violence, and gang activity gets higher and higher.
When will all this mayhem stop? Only when those who we elect begin to realize that all of the broken windows their predecessors have allowed to exist are now leading to a gradual destruction of a once peaceful town.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send your thoughts, comments, and opinionated letters to [email protected].
