Police

Gun victimization in the line of duty: Fatal and non-fatal firearm assaults on police officers in the United States, 2014-2019

We explore state-level variation and trends over time in gun assaults of police officers.

Procedural Justice in Policing

I briefly summarize the literature on procedural justice theory and identify some avenues for future research.

Good Cop, Bad Cop: Understanding Police Use of Force

I was a guest on this podcast where we discuss what science tells us about police use of force.

Defunding or disbanding the police is a dangerous idea if done hastily

We explore state-level variation and trends over time in gun assaults of police officers.

No Significant Decline in NYC Shootings Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 1, 2020, New York City reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Eleven days later, Mayor de Blasio declared a state of emergency. By mid-March, the most populous city in America had essentially shut down. Schools, libraries, gyms, theaters, churches and nightclubs closed. Major sporting events and concerts were cancelled. Restaurants were limited to take-out and delivery only. Non-essential gatherings of any size were prohibited, and New Yorkers were ordered to “shelter in place.

Gun Violence Against U.S. Police Officers: Insights from a New Dataset

In a forthcoming paper in Criminology & Public Policy, Michael and I conducted an exploratory analysis of fatal and non-fatal firearm assaults on U.S police officers using six years of public data provided by the Gun Violence Archive. We adopted the following inclusion criteria: Victim was a sworn officer employed by a local, state, or special jurisdiction law enforcement agency that routinely responds to calls for service (i.e., officers employed by town, city, or county agencies, sheriff’s departments, state agencies, tribal police, university police, transit police) Victim was on duty at the time of assault The bullet struck the victim’s person or his/her equipment (excluding vehicle) The bullet came from a real firearm (i.

Understanding body-worn camera diffusion in U.S. policing

We examine factors associated with BWC usage in municipal PDs as of 2018.

Testing a Theoretical Model of Perceived Audience Legitimacy: The Neglected Linkage in the Dialogic Model of Police–community Relations

We examine police perceptions of their legitimacy in the eyes of the public, using survey data from two police samples.

Police Shooting Research and the Conditional Probability Mistake

Yesterday, Andy Wheeler posted a summary of the problems with recent studies about officer-involved shootings, including one my colleagues and I published in February 2017. As usual, Andy’s criticisms were thoughtful and spot on. And I hope I can take him up on that conference beer soon, even though he’s at a new job. That said, I do want to push back just a little about the motivation for our paper.

New preprint: Do police killings of unarmed persons really have spillover effects?

Correcting 91 misclassified incidents renders Bor et al.'s (2018) key finding non-significant.