Back 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.
Since I originally wrote this piece, things have gotten noticeably worse because of so called quality-of-life crimes that can rot the core of society. State and local elected leaders seemingly support the decline of law and order.
Shopping carts, stolen from markets, are scattered all over town and frequently left at recycling drop-off points and 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. Now, the carts can still be seen all over town.
Recently in the Lompoc city manager’s weekly report, the Community Development Department reported that they were “working on staff report and strengthening shopping cart ordinance.” We’ll have to see how that works out.
The homeless population has been growing in Lompoc and has exploded statewide, and no one seems to know why. I do—the California government keeps paying them to be homeless.
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.
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.
A 2018 hit-and-run case in Montecito demonstrates what happens when politicians go soft on crime. According to a Noozhawk report, in 2020 “Derrick John Thompson, 27, of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to evading law enforcement causing injury; fleeing from the scene of a collision causing serious permanent injury; and conspiracy to possess (17 lbs.) marijuana for sale, as well as an enhancement for personally causing great bodily injury causing a comatose condition.”
In 2020, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which means he would have had 5.5 years left today but was released long before completing his sentence. Two weeks ago, he killed five innocent women in Minnesota after running a red light. If he had served his sentence, they would still be alive.
Another 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 hefty 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.
In Lompoc it’s illegal to use fireworks that shoot through the sky or explode; however, during this time of year and on New Year’s Eve the city sounds like a war zone. And even if the people using them are identified, it is rare that any punitive action is taken.
Shoplifting is a regular occurrence; public drunkenness, drug overdoses, 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 or death of innocent bystanders.
Are these a result of “broken windows”? State law says that these things are crimes, but the penalty for many is minimal. Failing to take care of thefts, illegal camping, assaults, malicious property damage, and other crimes some people consider “minor” seems to have led to a lack of concern by some people for the impact of their lawlessness.
When will all this mayhem stop? Only when those who we elect begin to realize that all the broken windows their predecessors allowed to exist have now led to a gradual destruction of a once peaceful Lompoc and the nation.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 9, 2023.