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Posts in Criminology
Into the Kill Zone: A Cop's Eye View of Deadly Force

By David Klinger

What's it like to have official sanction to shoot and kill? In this brilliantly written, controversial, and compelling book, author David Klinger - who himself shot and killed a suspect during his first year as an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department - answers this and many other questions about what it's like to live and work in the place where police officers have to make split-second decisions about life and death: The Kill Zone.

Klinger, now a university professor, writes eloquently about what happens when police officers find themselves face-to-face with dangerous criminals, the excruciating decisions they have to make to shoot or to hold their fire, and how they deal with the consequences of their choices.

San Francisco. Jossey-Bass. 2004. 304p.

2023 National Intelligence Strategy

By United States. Office Of The Director Of National Intelligence; Intelligence Community (U.S.)

From the document: "Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, and in the wake of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act passed by Congress in 2004, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte signed out the Intelligence Community's (IC) first National Intelligence Strategy. The strategy explained that the Intelligence Community's clear charge was to: [1] Integrate the domestic and foreign dimensions of U.S. intelligence so that there are no gaps in our understanding of threats to our national security; [2] Bring more depth and accuracy to intelligence analysis; and [3] Ensure that U.S. intelligence resources generate future capabilities as well as present results. Now, almost twenty years after our first strategy was issued, the Intelligence Community's charge remains just as clear, even as the strategic environment has changed dramatically. The United States faces an increasingly complex and interconnected threat environment characterized by strategic competition between the United States, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and the Russian Federation, felt perhaps most immediately in Russia's ongoing aggression in Ukraine. In addition to states, sub-national and non-state actors--from multinational corporations to transnational social movements--are increasingly able to create influence, compete for information, and secure or deny political and security outcomes, which provides opportunities for new partnerships as well as new challenges to U.S. interests. In addition, shared global challenges, including climate change, human and health security, as well as emerging and disruptive technological advances, are converging in ways that produce significant consequences that are often difficult to predict. [...] The six goals outlined in this National Intelligence Strategy have emerged as our understanding of the kinds of information, technology, and relationships needed to be effective in the future has expanded."

Washington. United States. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Intelligence Community (U.S.). 2023.

Perceptions Are Not Reality: What Americans Get Wrong About Police Violence

By Goldberg, Zach

From the document: "Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in media and public attention to police brutality and racial bias. By some measures, the volume of media references to these topics has been greater over the past decade than ever before. Google search behavior shows that Americans are consuming this messaging ('Figure 1'), and their attitudes toward police--particularly Democrats' and liberals' attitudes--have responded accordingly. Confidence in police has never been lower, while antipolice sentiment, perceptions of police brutality and racism, and support for defunding the police have never been higher. So much have perceptions of racist policing grown that, as of 2021, more than half (52%) of Democrats felt that levels of racism were greater among police officers than other societal groups (up from 35% in 2014). Fears of the police among black Americans have increased to the point that, in 2020, roughly 74% of black respondents to a Quinnipiac University poll said that they 'personally worry' about being the victim of police brutality, compared with 64% and 57% who said so in 2018 and 2016, respectively. Yet these trends in media coverage and public perceptions seem divorced from empirical reality. A stark illustration of this was provided by a nationally representative survey conducted in 2019 by the Skeptic Research Center, which found that nearly 33% of people--including 44% of liberals--thought that 1,000 or more unarmed black men 'alone' were killed by police in 2019. In fact, according to the Mapping Police Violence (MPV) database, 29 unarmed black (vs. 44 white) men were killed by police that year."

NY. Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. 2023. 50p.

2023 Biodefense Posture Review

By United States. Department Of Defense

From the document: "The Department of Defense (DoD) is at a pivotal moment in biodefense as it faces an unprecedented number of complex biological threats (biothreats). This inaugural DoD Biodefense Posture Review (BPR) initiates key reforms--built on the foundations of the 2022 National Defense Strategy (NDS), the October 2022 National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security (NBS); and lessons learned from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response--to posture DoD to counter biothreats through 2035. Developments in biological technology (biotechnology) are driving an increase in the scope and diversity of biothreats that DoD could face in the next decade. Additionally, as the planet's climate continues to change and its population grows, emerging infectious diseases are expected to develop and spread more frequently and potentially threaten DoD's readiness to achieve and maintain its national defense goals. The COVID-19 pandemic response presented opportunities for DoD to both improve its overall preparedness and posture, as well as to reinforce and reimagine its role in support of the broader U.S. Government and our allies and partners."

Washington D.C. United States. Department of Defense. 2023. 56p.

The Sociology of Privatized Security

USED BOOK. MAY CONTAIN MARK-UP

Edited by Ori Swed and Thomas Crosbie

FROM THE PREFACE: “This book started as a known unknown. We knew and admired the rich body of work being produced by political scientists, international relations scholars, legal scholars and historians (as well as a handful of sociologists) on the emerging private military and security industry. We knew about and were concerned with the political consequences of this development, with its nasty barbs of undermining legitimacy, stability and professionalism in the conduct of war and security operations. And we knew that we didn't know what this meant from a sociological perspective. With time, this known unknown transformed before our eyes into an unknown known. In other words, we realized that many of our fellow sociologists were as concerned as we were with establishing and promoting a sociological perspective on the privatization of security. The problem changed from one of disciplinary neglect to one of disciplinary resistance. In The Sociology of Privatized Security, we present a collection of nine chapters written by more than a dozen sociologists on a topic that is widely discussed in the public sphere but almost absent from the discipline. The book came about for that very reason: we want to bring this important topic into disciplinary discussion, to push our collcagues to take seriously the global trend toward privatizing security and military affairs as something that really matters to contemporary societies and to social life…”

NY. Palgrave Macmillan. 2009. 292p.

Detroit Project Safe Neighborhoods: Final Evaluation Report

By Edmund F. McGarrell Stephen Oliphant Alaina De Biasi Julie M. Krupa

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national program that seeks to reduce levels of gun and gang crime, and violent crime generally. The Eastern District of Michigan has participated in PSN since its outset in 2001. Although the Eastern District has included attention to violent crime in multiple communities, Detroit has been a primary target area throughout the years of PSN. PSN is a grant supported program by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. This report summarizes the implementation and impact of the grant supported program that was funded in fiscal year 2018. During this period, the PSN team focused on Detroit Police Department’s 9th precinct, with targeted enforcement in specific hotspot areas. PSN Detroit relied upon a multi-agency team and followed a comprehensive strategy of targeted enforcement, intervention with at-risk individuals, and youth-focused prevention. The PSN initiative, like law enforcement operations nationally, was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This added to the complexity of the evaluation and makes some of our research findings tentative. With this qualification in mind, we find support for the positive impact of PSN. Specifically, following the implementation of PSN in the 9th precinct until the shutdowns associated with the impact of the pandemic in March 2020, the 9th precinct witnessed a decline from 13.6 shooting victimizations per month to 11.9 per month (-12.5%). During this same period, Detroit’s other precincts witnessed a total increase from 63.8 to 72.6 (+13.7%), or an average per precinct increase from 6.3 to 7.3 per month. When examining the specific hotspot areas, we observed a decline of 2.6 shooting victimizations per month in the hotspot zone when compared to a comparison area drawn from parts of the city that did not experience PSN.

These trends were interrupted by the onset of the pandemic, as well as the period of social unrest and protest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The pandemic had a serious effect in Detroit with the Police Department experiencing significant personnel losses due to illness and quarantine, and the suspension of court operations. As was the case nationally, violent crime increased in Detroit and in the 9th precinct in 2020 and the first half of 2021. In the last quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, the 9th precinct again witnessed welcome declines in shooting victimizations. These declines were also observed citywide and were particularly noteworthy in the specific PSN target areas within the 9th precinct. The PSN team’s strategy of supporting a focused multi-agency enforcement team, while leveraging comprehensive intervention and place-based strategies appears to have enhanced public safety in Detroit.

Lansing: Michigan Justice Statistics Center, School of Criminal Justice. Michigan State University 2022. 30p.

Creating Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods with Place-based Violence Interventions

By Bernadette C. Hohl, Michelle C. Kondo, Sandhya Kajeepeta, John M. MacDonald, Katherine P. Theall, Marc A. Zimmerman, and Charles C. Branas

Violence is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and abroad, with far-reaching consequences for individuals and communities. Interventions that address environmental and social contexts have the potential for greater populationwide effects, yet research has been slow to identify and rigorously evaluate these types of interventions to reduce violence. Several urban communities across the US are conducting experimental and quasi-experimental community-based research to examine the effect of place-based interventions on violence. Using examples from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Flint, Michigan; Youngstown, Ohio; and New Orleans, Louisiana, we describe how place-based interventions that remediate vacant land and abandoned buildings work to reduce violence. These examples support the potential for place-based interventions to create far-reaching and sustainable improvements in the health and safety of communities that experience significant disadvantage. These interventions warrant the attention of community stakeholders, funders, and policy makers.

Health Affairs 38, NO. 10 (2019): 1687–1694

Safe Cities profile series: Key indicators by census metropolitan area

By Shana Conroy, Cristine Rotenberg, McKenzie Haringa and Sarah Johnston-Way

The Safe Cities profile series provides the most recent data on community safety and crime, and other social characteristics, for Canada’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs). Key indicators include community safety and sense of belonging, self-reported experiences of victimization, and police-reported crime—which are based on results from the General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety (Victimization), the new Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces, and the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey. To complement community safety and crime data, CMA-level statistics from supplementary data sources are also provided, including population and demographics; education, employment and income; and housing and families. Efforts to promote community safety and well-being are central to Canada’s actions to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The SDGs provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity, and they were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. The SDGs mark an urgent call for action by all countries—both developing and developed—in a global partnership to address safety and security issues at home and abroad. They include a focus on ending inequality and gender-based violence while promoting sustainable cities, communities and institutions in the pursuit of peace and justice (Employment and Social Development Canada 2019).

Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2021. 361p.

Effects of neighborhood upgrading programs on domestic violence in Bolivia

By Nora Ruth Libertun de Duren

Landlocked in the center of South America, Bolivia experienced rapid urbanization only in recent decades. Its urban population became a majority in the 1990s, almost three decades later than the rest of Latin America’s southern cone. However, the country has made up for lost time since then with a very sharp transition from a rural to an urban society. The 2012 urbanization rate was 6.75 percent, more than four times the average for the rest of the region. Currently, one in three urban residents in Bolivia is a rural migrant who arrived in a city between 2006 and 2011 (Trohanis, Zaengerling, & Sanchez-Reaza, 2015). By 2025, three-quarters of Bolivia’s projected 14 million people will live in cities (UN-DESA, 2012). As in many developing countries, the majority of rural migrants in Bolivia settle in informal neighborhoods in peripheral areas of the country’s largest cities. It is estimated that 45 percent of Bolivia’s urban residents reside in an informal neighborhood (IDB, 2016). The housing units in these neighborhoods often resemble rural dwellings; they are usually self-built, and they are not connected to basic services such as water and sanitation. The neighborhoods frequently have unpaved, fuzzily demarcated, and unlighted roads of diverse widths. Accordingly, property boundaries among residents are blurry and may lead to conflicts among neighbors. Nevertheless, lack of formal titles does not preclude the existence of an active real estate market (Birch et al., 2016). Properties are traded and leased. There is an important income inequality within informal neighborhood residents; those who rent tend to be significantly poorer than those who own property (Talukdar, 2018). Typically, informal neighborhoods residents are more exposed to violence and insecurity, given that police and firemen do not often service these neighborhoods (Perlman, 2010). While there are no official crime statistics in Bolivia for these neighborhoods, residents report a high sense of insecurity (Gamboa, 2014); a phenomenon seen in informal neighborhoods in other countries, too (Parks, 2014). Also, while there are no formal statistics on violence against women, its main risk factors. -family history, early cohabitation, alcohol abuse, and low level of education- (Klugman et al., 2014)- are highly prevalent in informal neighborhoods (McIlwaine, 2013).

World Development Perspectives. Volume 19, September 2020, 100231

Law Enforcement Training And The Domestic Far Right

By Steven M. Chermak, Joshua D. Freilich and Zachary Shemtob

This article examines issues related to training as it pertains to domestic terrorism in general and responding to far-right extrem- ists in particular. First, it hightlights current training practices and training focused on the far right. Second, it details knowledge about the nature and extent of the threat posed by far-right extremists. Third, a review of the empirical research indicates that training could be enhanced if three key issues are emphasized: Future training should promote a better understanding of the contours of the far right; discuss the unique geographic, crime-incident, and structural characteristics of the far right; and describe the need to examine all ideologically motivated crimes, regardless of whether they are also defined as terrorist. The conclusion discusses how training could be enhanced by strategically integrating the existing knowledge base.

Sage. Criminal Justice and Behavior. Vol. 36 No. 12, December 2009 1305-1322 DOI:0.1177/0093854809345630

Detroit Project Safe Neighborhoods: Final Evaluation Report

By Edmund F. McGarrell Stephen Oliphant Alaina De Biasi Julie M. Krupa

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national program that seeks to reduce levels of gun and gang crime, and violent crime generally. The Eastern District of Michigan has participated in PSN since its outset in 2001. Although the Eastern District has included attention to violent crime in multiple communities, Detroit has been a primary target area throughout the years of PSN. PSN is a grant supported program by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. This report summarizes the implementation and impact of the grant supported program that was funded in fiscal year 2018. During this period, the PSN team focused on Detroit Police Department’s 9th precinct, with targeted enforcement in specific hotspot areas. PSN Detroit relied upon a multi-agency team and followed a comprehensive strategy of targeted enforcement, intervention with at-risk individuals, and youth-focused prevention. The PSN initiative, like law enforcement operations nationally, was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This added to the complexity of the evaluation and makes some of our research findings tentative. With this qualification in mind, we find support for the positive impact of PSN. Specifically, following the implementation of PSN in the 9th precinct until the shutdowns associated with the impact of the pandemic in March 2020, the 9th precinct witnessed a decline from 13.6 shooting victimizations per month to 11.9 per month (-12.5%). During this same period, Detroit’s other precincts witnessed a total increase from 63.8 to 72.6 (+13.7%), or an average per precinct increase from 6.3 to 7.3 per month. When examining the specific hotspot areas, we observed a decline of 2.6 shooting victimizations per month in the hotspot zone when compared to a comparison area drawn from parts of the city that did not experience PSN.

These trends were interrupted by the onset of the pandemic, as well as the period of social unrest and protest following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The pandemic had a serious effect in Detroit with the Police Department experiencing significant personnel losses due to illness and quarantine, and the suspension of court operations. As was the case nationally, violent crime increased in Detroit and in the 9th precinct in 2020 and the first half of 2021. In the last quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022, the 9th precinct again witnessed welcome declines in shooting victimizations. These declines were also observed citywide and were particularly noteworthy in the specific PSN target areas within the 9th precinct. The PSN team’s strategy of supporting a focused multi-agency enforcement team, while leveraging comprehensive intervention and place-based strategies appears to have enhanced public safety in Detroit.

Lansing: Michigan Justice Statistics Center, School of Criminal Justice. Michigan State University 2022. 30p.

Enhanced Community Engagement and Community Policing: A Review of York Regional Police Anti-Racism Practice

By Foster & Associates

  In January 2022 York Regional Police (YRP or ‘the Service’) contracted Foster & Associates to ‘review and report on the provision of recommendations and best practices to enable York Regional Police to build and improve relationships with Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities’. The York Regional Police Board (YRPB or ‘Board’) identified recommendations made at its meeting on September 23, 2022 with the Black community and developed a list of 51 recommendations in total, 43 of which fell within the responsibilities of the Service. A preliminary document was tabled by the Chief with the Board on April 14, 2021 that identified activities already undertaken and in progress, signaling the intent to continue consulting with the Black community to advance positive change that builds trust and confidence in policing  

  Foster & Associates, 2023. 98p.  

Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods

by The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans

The rapid growth of e-commerce has revolutionized the way goods are bought and sold, allowing for counterfeit and pirated goods to flood our borders and penetrate our communities and homes. Illicit goods trafficked to American consumers by e-commerce platforms and online third-party marketplaces threaten public health and safety, as well as national security. This illicit activity impacts American innovation and erodes the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers and workers.

“Combating Trafficking in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods,” was prepared by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans. The report uses available data, substantial public input, and other information to develop a deeper understanding of how e-commerce platforms, online third-party marketplaces, and other third-party intermediaries facilitate the importation and sale of massive amounts of counterfeit and pirated goods. The report identifies appropriate administrative, statutory, regulatory, and other actions, including enhanced enforcement measures, modernization of legal and liability frameworks, and best practices for private sector stakeholders. These strong actions can be implemented swiftly to substantially reduce trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods while promoting a safer America.

American consumers shopping on e-commerce platforms and online third-party marketplaces now face a significant risk of purchasing counterfeit or pirated goods. To build upon existing efforts to combat the flow of counterfeit goods, DHS – in consultation with the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement – produced a series of proposals, which are found in “Stopping Counterfeit Trafficking on E-Commerce Platforms Through Fines and Civil Penalties,” to equip the U.S. Government with a strong framework of authorities to more easily conduct enforcement in the e-commerce environment and combat the flow of illicit goods entering the United States. These proposals range from improving information sharing and allowing summary forfeiture of IPR-infringing goods, to allowing the U.S. Government to seek injunctive relief and adapting fines to the e-commerce environment.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Homeland Security , 2020. 84p.

When do businesses report cybercrime? Findings from a UK study

By Steven Kemp, David Buil-Gil , Fernando Miró-Llinares and Nicholas Lord3

Although it is known that businesses report cybercrime to public authorities at a low rate, and this hinders prevention strategies, there is a lack of research on companies’ decisions to report cyber victimisation. This paper analyses the UK Cyber Security Breaches Survey to explore factors associated with cybercrime reporting by businesses. Results indicate that the type of cybercrime is relevant to the reporting decision, and that the likelihood of reporting increases when cybersecurity incidents generate negative impacts and when the company places high priority on cybersecurity. However, we find no association between having cybersecurity insurance and reporting. Finally, while having outsourced cybersecurity management is associated with reporting to anyone outside the organisation but not to public authorities, inhouse cybersecurity teams seem more inclined to report to public authorities. Findings are discussed in relation to the role of the private cybersecurity sector and the criminal justice system in combatting cybercrime.

Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2021.

Profile of Canadian Businesses Who Report Cybercrime to Police: The 2017 Canadian Survey of Cyber Security and Cybercrime

By Kayla A. Wanamaker

Cybercrime – crimes where the Internet and information technology (IT) are used, such as hacking, virus dissemination, and organized crime – is a growing concern for governments, organizations, individuals and businesses worldwide. Research conducted in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada has concluded that cybercrime and cyber security incidents are underreported to law enforcement. The reasons why this is the case, however, are not well known, especially within a Canadian context. As such, the goal of the current study was to examine the phenomenon of underreporting of cyber security incidents to police services using data from the 2017 Canadian Survey of Cyber Security and Cybercrime that was administered to Canadian businesses. Results indicated that while just over 20% of businesses experienced cyber-related incidents, only about 10% are reporting these incidents to the police. Businesses did not report incidents because they were resolved internally or through an IT consultant, or were thought to be too minor to report to police. Risk management, formal training, and sharing best practices were found to be related to businesses’ likelihood of reporting incidents to police. Larger businesses were more likely to report cybercrime to police when they implemented less security measures, whereas scores on security measures were not related to police reporting for small businesses. Results suggest a need to increase awareness of the frequency of cybercrime, as well as the availability of formal training options on cyber-related issues. They also underscore the importance of having enhanced cyber security protocols in place.

Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2019. 16p.

National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan

By The White House

President Biden has made clear that all Americans deserve the full benefits and potential of our digital future. The Biden-Harris Administration’s recently released National Cybersecurity Strategy calls for two fundamental shifts in how the United States allocates roles, responsibilities, and resources in cyberspace:

  1. Ensuring that the biggest, most capable, and best-positioned entities – in the public and private sectors – assume a greater share of the burden for mitigating cyber risk

  2. Increasing incentives to favor long-term investments into cybersecurity

Today, the Administration is announcing a roadmap to realize this bold, affirmative vision. It is taking the novel step of publishing the National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan (NCSIP) to ensure transparency and a continued path for coordination. This plan details more than 65 high-impact Federal initiatives, from protecting American jobs by combatting cybercrimes to building a skilled cyber workforce equipped to excel in our increasingly digital economy. The NCSIP, along with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and other major Administration initiatives, will protect our investments in rebuilding America’s infrastructure, developing our clean energy sector, and re-shoring America’s technology and manufacturing base.

Washington, DC: White House, 2023. 57p.

Parallel lines? The homogeneous and gendered career patterns of senior leaders in policing in England and Wales

By Jackie Alexander and Sarah Charman

Under-representation of women in policing is a global phenomenon, with considerable commonality in barriers to career success and differential career experiences compared to men. Through a comparative analysis utilising unique survey and interview data with female and male senior police leaders in England and Wales, this paper considers whether cultural and structural barriers persist and how they are experienced by gender; examines the challenges encountered en route to senior rank; and con-siders how similarities or differences by gender impact upon careers. The findings are considered to have world-wide relevance, demonstrating that those officers achieving seniority tend to share similar career experiences whatever their gender, particularly at the highest ranks. Leadership styles emerge as homogenous with agentic traits and traditional styles persist-ing. Costs to achieving higher rank appear to differ by gender however, and access to senior rank is revealed as dependent upon engaging in traditional behaviours including a long-hours culture and ensuring family does not reduce work capacity, effectively promoting a ‘child-tax’ upon female policing leaders. It thus appears that a widespread and global tacit acceptance of policing as a male-dominated profession endures, impact-ing on female advancement compared to men.

Police Practice and Research . An International Journal, 2023.

Funding the Police

By Noah Smith-Drelich

For all the discussion of defunding the police, far less attention has been given to how the police are funded. This Article shines a light on the wide range of sources, public and private, from which police draw their funding. This examination complicates the widely accepted notion of police as locally controlled and wholly public entities. Even when police policy-making remains ostensibly in local hands, funding from nonlocal or nonpublic sources will distort the incentives underlying policing decisions. This Article examines the significant influence of external funding on the police, articulating the role that the source of police funding plays in police control and accountability. I conclude by proposing two novel reforms, each of which could be adopted under current law. First, the distorting effects of outside funding could be countered by adopting a more dynamic remedial approach in suits for constitutional wrongdoing. Second, these distorting effects could be reduced or even eliminated entirely by barring local agencies and departments from accepting outside funding.

Ohio State Law Journal, Vol. 84:3, 2023. 55p.

Minneapolis Safe and Thriving Communities Report: A Vision and Action Plan for the Future of Community Safety and Wellbeing

By The City of Minneapolis

The City of Minneapolis is reexamining what being just looks like and acts like. In today’s world, the concept of justice is by most accounts expanding. In the United States, for example, courts have broadened the scope of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution which reads in part, “nor shall any state deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Thus, we’re in an environment with a larger and more complex set of issues and challenges requiring “equal protection” by public institutions – particularly law enforcement and public safety organizations. Compounding the challenge of achieving justice is the degree to which changing societal conditions impact what community members and stakeholders view as “just” and “valuable.” As crime and safety trends shift, as public sentiment changes, and as society expands the scope of equal protection, the nature and definition of “value” shifts accordingly. For public safety leaders, this means that achieving justice, and the resulting value and legitimacy of policing and public safety institutions, is based on three interdependent demands: One, equally protecting people from increasingly complex crime. Two, equally protecting access to ever more robust rights, freedoms, and liberties. And three, engaging with communities to continually define value and co-create solutions that build trust. The resulting imperative is that public safety leaders and stakeholders must continually adapt their policing organizations to new value propositions and methods of producing that value. To accomplish this, Minneapolis public safety organizations must increase organizational capacity – the structures, systems, processes, and people that enable an organization to meet goals effectively and efficiently. And this capacity needs to not only be activated in real-time, but also dynamic – able to grow and adapt over time. The Safe and Thriving Communities report provides a pathway to this future of enhanced justice, value, and legitimacy

Minneapolis: City of Minneapolis, 2023. 143p.

Essays on the Economics of Policing and Crime

By Roman Gabriel Rivera

There is growing demand for reforms to the U.S. criminal justice system. Nevertheless, there are significant questions and relatively few answers. This dissertation studies multiple U.S. criminal justice system issues using detailed administrative data from Cook County, Illinois: Does policing the police increase crime? Does the composition of a police officer's academy cohort influence their future outcomes? Is pretrial electronic monitoring an attractive alternative to pretrial release and detention? To answer these questions, I use administrative data from Chicago and Cook County, Illinois, on the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Jail, and Circuit Court of Cook County, and a range of econometric methods.

In Chapter 1, I study the effect of pretrial electronic monitoring (EM) as an alternative to pretrial release and pretrial detention (jail) in Cook County, Illinois. EM often involves a defendant wearing an electronic ankle bracelet that tracks their movement and aims to deter pretrial misconduct. Using the quasi-random assignment of bond court judges, I estimate the effect of EM versus release and EM versus detention on pretrial misconduct, case outcomes, and future recidivism. I develop a novel method for the semiparametric estimation of marginal treatment effects in ordered choice environments, with which I construct relevant treatment effects. Relative to release, EM increases new cases pretrial due to bond violations while reducing new cases for low-level crimes and failures to appear in court. Relative to detention, EM increases low-level pretrial misconduct but improves defendant case outcomes and reduces cost-weighted future recidivism. Finally, I bound EM's pretrial crime reduction effect. I find that EM is likely an adequate substitute for pretrial detention. However, it is unclear that EM prevents enough high-cost crime to justify its use relative to release, particularly for defendants who are more likely to be released.

Chapter 3, joint with Bocar Ba, studies and differentiates between the effects of oversight and outrage on policing. Previous studies estimating the impact of police oversight on crime rely on major policing scandals as shocks to examine the impact of oversight on crime. We argue that the simultaneous effect of public outrage on officer behavior and crime contaminates these results, and we provide a conceptual framework that distinguishes between oversight and outrage. We identify two events relating to unexpected court rulings in Chicago that increased oversight and caused a decline in reported misconduct but had virtually no public reaction. Despite the decrease in reported misconduct, crime and officer activity were unaffected. We contrast this with a major policing scandal, after which we find both a rise in crime rates without an equivalent increase in arrests and a decline in officer stops and use of force. Our results suggest that police oversight can reduce misconduct without increasing crime.

New York: Columbia University, 2023. 299p.