Community Defined Disorder (CDD) is the practice of helping the community identify local disorder problems that, if left unchecked, can or have recently developed into criminogenic situations. If this sounds familiar, it is because Community Defined Disorder grew out of Broken Windows Theory, originally proposed by Drs. George Kelling and James Q. Wilson in 1982. In 2017, the Attorney General requested a solicitation for the purpose of “updating” Broken Windows Theory. However, in the intervening decades, Broken Windows Theory had been implemented in a manner that, rather than reducing crime and improving community outlooks, alienated communities and was even found to be associated with increased levels of reported crimes. “Disorder policing” or “zero-tolerance policing” had been so damaging to communities that Kelling himself later decried the misapplication of Broken Windows Theory. A new COPS Office training, “Contemporary Approaches for Responding Effectively to Community-Defined Disorder,” sets out to aid agencies in identifying and creating successful coalitions around Community Defined Disorder.

“From the very beginning of this project,” says Lynda M. Schwartz, Executive Director of the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI), “VCPI focused on one, overarching principle. . . public safety issues are first and foremost community issues and effectively addressing these issues requires collaborative community partnerships—without exception.” As early as the application phase, VCPI reached out to Dr. Kelling and his colleague Dr. William Sousa for guidance and support: “In designing this program, we contacted George Kelling, Broken Windows author, researcher, and community policing advocate, who wholeheartedly supported community care as a foundation for addressing disorder and crime problems.” VCPI convened a national advisory board of departments with successful community disorder initiatives. The advisory board, which included Dr. Sousa, discussed and presented its approaches to community outreach, coalition-building, and sustainable improvements. These discussions evolved into the case studies presented in the training.

“There is a tendency,” says VCPI Deputy Director Adam Wojicki, “to think about public safety purely through the lens of crime. It is this antiquated idea that the police must come in and unilaterally cure a community of crime. But if you ask the police officers, civic leaders, educators, and others that are actually doing the work of keeping our communities safe, they will tell you that effective policing is not about unilaterally curing a community. Effective policing, to include meaningful and vigorous law enforcement, is actually the result of the police and community sharing the responsibility of public safety and caring for the communities in which they live and work. This concept of shared responsibility for community care is at the core of the CARE CDD courses.”

“Contemporary Approaches for Responding Effectively to Community-Defined Disorder” is intended for law enforcement professionals and their community members. It can be accessed through the COPS Office Training Portal.

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