Introduced in an article for The Atlantic magazine, the theory rests on the idea that neighborhoods with "broken windows" and other visible crimes (e.g., destruction of property, sex work, visible homelessness, panhandling, graffiti, and visible signs of people with mental health disabilities) should be "eradicated" by policing to avoid more serious crimes.

Different cities experiment with this model first, but it will take off in 1993 under Mayor Rudy Giuliani's tenure in New York City, when Chief of Police William Bratton begins by arresting houseless people on the subway. Broken windows policing will be used to target a range of street and survivor economies, thereby increasing the incarceration of significant percentages of impoverished Black and Brown communities, sex workers, LGBTQ+ people, and substance users.