Thanks to Zocalo and RAND, Prof. Angela Hawken of Pepperdine, Prof. Mark Peterson of UCLA, Chief Charlie Beck of the LAPD, and I had a chance to discuss the remarkable impacts of a remarkable man. Video here. Beck’s explanation of the difference between “broken windows” police strategies (sometimes useful) and “zero tolerance” strategies (never workable) deserves to be more widely appreciated. Peterson offers a masterful exposition of the differences between Wilson as a political scientist of conservative bent and the current members of the Red Team
All of us had serious disagreements with Wilson, and all of us owe him major intellectual debts. Hawken is right to stress his extreme willingness to change his mind in the face of new facts.
Keith Humphreys says
Everyone who thinks they understand Wilson’s work on Broken Windows could benefit from watching even the first 10 minutes of this video, Beck does an excellent job of explaining why zero tolerance policing is in fact directly contrary to the spirit of broken windows.