Broken Window Effect...I'd love to know Chief Romero's position

My sister was with the NYPD before and during the Guiliani administration. She started in the early 1980s, a time when NYC really looked a mess. So it was with great interest she discussed the then new, radical theory of "broken windows" - the theory that a chaotic, disorderly environment sets everything up for a great, big decline in civil behavior. (In case you didn't know, the program was successfully implemented by Chief William Bratton, a Boston guy, who became a media darling, receiving many public accolades...which, urban legend has it, Guiliani couldn't handle and Bratton was forced out.) She told me how the police began enforcing what had been un-enforceable before: public urination and open drinking on the streets. The theory's success, at least in regard to NYC, has always been controversial as many credited the drop in crime with a shift in demographics: the population got older and less criminally-inclined. NYC did become a bit tamer over the years (sometimes I think too tame...and bland, but it's nice not to worry about being mugged) and the theory has been hotly debated. Flash forward to Nov. 2008 and Science Magazine released a study proving the theory works.

Today in the Boston Globe there is an article talking about the success of certain aspects of the "broken window" theory: Cleaning up the physical environment was very effective; misdemeanor arrests less so, and boosting social services had no apparent impact.

Chief Romero is an alum of NYPD and was there during those critical years. I know in the past the Tribune has done articles discussing the success of COMPSTAT in Lawrence, but I'd love to see a Tribune article talking about Lawrence's take on "broken windows." Maybe they already have, but howz about an update?

Do you hear me, Eagle Tribune?