Graffiti Removal
Yesterday, Bronx Community Solutions made another step forward in our efforts to expand and develop meaningful community service projects, sponsoring a graffiti removal project with the 44th Precinct at the New Friendly Day Care Center.
A group of eight Bronx Community Solutions participants put a new coat of red paint on the side of the building.
This is the first of many graffiti removal projects we will be working on in partnership with the New York Police Department's Community Affairs unit in the Bronx. At the 44th Precinct, it was Community Affairs Officer Lonesome, Detective Wattley and Youth Officer Hernandez who identified the site, which had been badly disfigured by graffiti.
A few hours of work by our community service crew made a world of difference.
There's a lot more work to be done - each precinct has at least two sites for us to work on. With our new 15-passenger van, purchased to help make our community service projects more mobile and responsive to local neighborhood needs, we expect to be busy.
Comments
There is some debate in the literature about the connection between disorder and crime. This article by Robert Sampson & Stephen Raudenbush presents an alternative perspective to the "Broken Windows" thesis. I think it suggest that beyond using offenders to remove visible signs of disorder like graffiti, involving local residents in the effort may help to promote what the authors call "collective efficacy." http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/soc/faculty/sampson/articles/2001_NIJ_Raudenbush.pdf