Social psychologist and police officers tend to agree that if a window in a building is broken and left unrepaired, all the rest of the windows will soon be broken.  This is called the broken window theory.  Unattended property becomes fair gain for people out for fun of plunder and even for people who ordinarily would not dream of doing such things and who probably consider themselves law-abiding.  Drug dealers almost always look for visual signs of disorder in a community before setting up shop.  Conversely, one of the best ways to signal that a community will no longer tolerate drugs dealing or disorder is to begin to clean up, repair and maintenance of common space is vital.

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