Profs on Cops

Unlike local police chiefs, local sheriffs are popularly elected. In theory, that makes them accountable to the voters. In practice, their accountability is quite limited. For example, the incumbency advantage of sitting sheriffs in local elections is enormous. Mirya Holman, Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Houston and co-author (with Emily Farris) of The Power of the Badge, discov...

In a new book, The Science of Second Chances, economist Jennifer Doleac puts criminal justice reform strategies under the microscope. Should prosecutors be lenient towards first offenders? Should probation ground-rules be strict and strictly enforced? Should persons convicted of a felony have their DNA included in a law enforcement data base? Should employers be allowed to ask job applicants wheth...

De-escalation training for police is not new, but it has received growing attention in recent years, as concerns over the use of force by police have surged. Until recently, little was known about the actual effects of de-escalation training. Robin Engel, Senior Scientist at the Ohio State University, has conducted a systematic review of multiple studies and an in-depth analysis of the effects of...

Homicide clearance rates, at 61 percent nationwide, are disappointing, and clearance rates for nonfatal gun shootings are even lower. Phillip Cook, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Economics at Duke University, offers explanations for relatively low clearance rates, including changes in arrest requirements and the mix of cases being investigated. For example, as drug and gang cases have pro...

What did law enforcement look like in the days before the American Revolution? In Boston and other cities, "night watchmen" provided protection and useful information to citizens while others slept. Law enforcement became far less routine when 1,300 British soldiers arrived in Boston in 1768. Nicole Breault, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Texas-El Paso, discusses how...

Due to some legislative drafting quirks, our nation’s oldest national park features a 50-square-mile corridor where it is theoretically possible to commit a serious crime without being punished. This legal loophole played a role in C.J. Box’s heart-pounding murder mystery, Free-Fire, featuringWyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. Brian Kalt, Professor of Law at Michigan State University, generated lots...

False confessions are not just an interesting plot twist in police dramas; they are fairly common in real life. Teenagers are especially likely to make a false confession when interrogated by the police. Hayley Cleary, Professor of Criminology at Virginia Commonwealth University, explains the psychology of police interrogations and the greater risks for young defendants. She also discusses potenti...

If your credit card or banking account has ever been compromised by cybercrime, you know that cybercrime is no laughing matter. What exactly is cybercrime? Who are the victims? The perpetrators? Most of us never report cybercrime to local law enforcement authorities. Is that a mistake? What is the F.B.I.'s role in combating cybercrime? How is A.I. making matters worse? And how can we protect o...

Does the nature of a citizen’s encounter with a policeofficer depend on whether that officer is Black or white, male or female, a Democrat or a Republican, experienced or inexperienced? Roman Rivera, an economist and criminologist at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, offers evidence that race and gender are good predictors of whether an officer will use force and/or make an...

 Professor Jens Ludwig of the University of Chicago has been studying gun violence for much of his adult life.  He offers fresh insights into the subject in his new book, Unforgiving Places (University of Chicago Press, 2025). In a wide-ranging conversation, Ludwig argues that we need neighborhoods with “more eyes on the street” to prevent verbal altercationsfrom escalating and multiple programs t...

What are “ghost guns” and why do law enforcement officials worry so much about these easily-assembled firearms?  Dr. Garen Wintemute, Distinguished Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of California-Davis, offers a primer on the subject, which he has studied in depth. He distinguishes between ghost guns and other firearms, explains the BATF’s 2022 ghost gun rule, and discusses the Supreme...

At the urging of Oeindrila Dube and her colleagues, the Chicago Police Department has adopted a new police training program called Situational Decision-making (or Sit-D). This training regimen, which includes simulations and realistic videos, integrates principles of behavioral economics to reduce cognitive bias when police officers make quick decisions in the field. Dube, Professor of Public Poli...

Many school districts in the U.S. hire local police officers to make schools safer. Supporters say school resource officers (SROs) reduce crime through law enforcement and mentoring; critics say they transform petty crimes into school suspensions and arrests that disrupt student progress, especially for Black male students. According to Lucy Sorensen, Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the U...

A remarkable Irish-American, Francis O’Neill, rose up through the ranks of the Chicago police force in the late 19 th century to become the Chief of Police. He would later publish one of the finest collections of Irish folk music ever assembled, with 1,800 tunes that he and his “collectors” (many of them cops) committed to memory and then to print. Join Michael O’Malley, Professor of History at Ge...

Most local law enforcement agencies have their own closed-circuit TV systems, aimed at curbing crime and apprehending criminals. According to Eric Piza, Professor of Criminology at Northeastern University, who has studied this in Newark, N.J. and elsewhere, CCTV systems can reduce both violent crime and property crime if linked to strategic staff deployment. In the absence of that integrated appro...

When a serious crime is in progress, lethal force is sometimes necessary. But police officers often face big information deficits when trying to decide whether to shoot a suspect. David Klinger, Professor of Criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has been there himself, as a police officer in Los Angeles and Redmond, Washington. And he has interviewed over 100 police officers nationw...

Since 2020, police forces in the U.S. have experienced a surge in resignations and retirements.  Is this a problem?  Why is it happening?  Why should we care? Scott Mourtgos, recently retired as the Deputy Chief of Police in Salt Lake City and now Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina, has a unique perspective on these questions.  Hear more abo...

Some police department buildings strike observers as “welcoming,” while others seem intimidating or austere.  Research by Georgetown University Assistant Professor of Public Policy Andrea Headley finds that a police department’s appearance matters, that more welcoming structures are associated with more positive affect from citizens.  But race/ethnicity and prior arrest records moderate that relat...

In 2016, Georgetown University Law Professor Rosa Brooks joined the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department as a reserve officer. She served part-time from 2016 to 2020 and wrote a book about her experiences, Tangled Up in Blue. Find out why patrol officers avoid kitchens, why they discourage suspects from sitting on sofas, and why they clank when they walk. Prof. Brooks argues that police officers fa...

Body-worn cameras are now deployed by more than two-thirds of all police departments in the U.S. Patrol officers commonly use them, but increasingly detectives, meter maids, and even police dogs are being equipped with BWCs. Professor Michael White of Arizona State University testified on this subject before President Obama’s Commission on 21st Century Policing. Hear what he has to say about how b...

Although China is an authoritarian regime, its local police officers are surprisingly weak. They have high caseloads and lots of paperwork to complete and do not carry guns. When political protests arise, however, China enlists the People’s Armed Police to suppress dissent, speedily and forcefully. Suzanne Scoggins, Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University, discusses how the te...

Prof. Michael Sierra-Arevalo of the University of Texas discusses the “danger imperative” that frames the daily activities of police officers throughout the U.S. Learn about a deeply-embedded fear of violence that shapes numerous decisions police officers make – whether to confront a group of idle teenagers, whether to engage in a high-speed car chase, whether to wear a seat belt. The author of a...