New Bedford Police Adopt ‘Broken Windows’ Policing Using App

The New Bedford Police Department is doing its part to make the city cleaner and neater by adopting "broken windows" policing practices.

What Is Broken Windows Policing?

The "Broken Windows Theory" is a policing strategy popularized by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Police Commissioner William Bratton in the 1990s.

The strategy involves patrol officers responding to minor crimes and reporting issues such as litter, graffiti, abandoned vehicles, parking issues and potholes as they observe them, allowing the problems to be addressed more quickly and efficiently by the proper departments.

Broken window policing addresses issues before they get out of hand. If a broken window is not reported and replaced, there will soon be other broken windows.

How NBConnect Helps Residents and Police

New Bedford launched the NBConnect app and the 311 phone system last February, which according to Public Information Officer Jonathan Darling, "connects residents to a range of city services" and allows them to "identify non-emergency issues" and report them to the relevant department for addressing.

It's sort of a citizen version of broken windows policing.

"We average about 180 of these non-emergency issues per month through the app," Darling said. The most common requests for service include potholes, malfunctioning streetlights, issues with tree branches, and missed trash collection.

READ MORE: New Bedford Launches NBConnected App

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Officers Track City Issues With Smartphones

Now the police are getting involved.

"We have installed the app in all our marked patrol cars," New Bedford Police Chief Jason Thody said. "My goal is to provide every officer with a smartphone at some point, and the app will be installed on the phones as well."

"Our officers are patrolling the city 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. They are in the best position to identify some of these issues early and get them reported to the right department to be addressed quickly," he said.

"In the past, officers would make notifications by phone or email, allowing issues to be forgotten or fall through the cracks," Thody said. The app tracks the progress of addressing each submission.

Impact on City Services and Efficiency

Mayor Jon Mitchell praised the process.

"We are committed to making city services more effective and efficient," he said. "NBConnected puts city services at residents' fingertips."