Wilson and Kelling (1982) provide a simple instruction for the implementation of order-maintenance policing: direct limited police resources to the broken windows tipping point. In doing so, they imply a certain functional form of the relationship between disorder and violent crime. That is, Wilson and Kelling's (1982) description of the tipping point suggests that the disorder-crime relationship is best captured as a threshold effect. If this is indeed the case, then a proper test of the validity of broken windows theory should accommodate nonlinearity. To this end, this study empirically examined the functional form of the relationship between physical disorder and violent crime rate in Detroit, Michigan utilizing a dose-response propensity score methodology. To facilitate its analysis, this study utilized block-group level data on physical disorder, violent crime, as well as socioeconomic and land use characteristics from the Detroit Police Department's record management system, Motor City Mapping project, and Census. Despite its comprehensive analysis, the functional form of the disorder-crime relationship remains unclear. That being said, the bulk of the evidence favors a nonlinear relationship, with partial support for Wilson and Kelling's (1982) interpretation of the broken windows tipping point. Several directions for future research are identified in an effort to spur the cultivation of this undeveloped avenue of research.
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