I try to make sense of a handful of studies seemingly at odds with each other

Things I wish I knew 15 years ago

Our new study found that de-escalation training improved how officers communicate with citizens, but didn't reduce use of force incidents. Here's what that means for police reform.

Recent academic publications on police shootings and use of deadly force

Today was the last day of the semester for my undergrad Police & Society course. In the past, I’ve always done a review for the final, in the form of Jeopardy:1 My classes range in size from 20 to 35 ...

I recently surpassed 200 manuscripts reviewed, and you know what that means: time to look back on how many manuscripts I’ve been asked to review, the recommendations I’ve made, and how long it general...

Here we describe the processes and quantify the outcomes of the SAKI project in Anoka County, MN – a mid-sized suburban/rural jurisdiction – and make comparisons to the three seminal SAKI evaluation p...

The Chesapeake Police Department says the ideal candidate is someone who is 19 and a half or close to turning 21 by the time they complete the police academy.

This weekend marks 5 years since George Floyd was killed by Officer Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department. Expect to see some news stories in the coming weeks wrestling with the question ...

Background In his latest commentary on our research note, Jacob Kang-Brown (JKB) raises six concerns (some old, some new). For what it’s worth he also makes clear his point of view regarding the “ques...

A few weeks ago I got my letter from the Senior Vice Chancellor approving my promotion to Professor (beginning next term). It’s a pretty surreal feeling. I’ve worked hard, but I’ve also benefited from...

Neil et al. examine factors associated with variation in fatal police shooting rates across 2,727 US agencies and find that this variation is most strongly associated with differences in social contex...

Historically, a lack of comprehensive data on police shootings has hindered a nuanced understanding of this critical issue. However, in the past decade, the research landscape rapidly evolved with the...

Prior research on racial profiling has found that in encounters with law enforcement, minorities are punished more severely than white civilians. Less is known about the causes of these encounters and...

Click on the article title to read more.

Scientific Data - DM-FS: A Comprehensive Database on Death-Modulated Fatal Shootings

Abstract. The current study applies variation in departmental deadly force policies by examining constraining and obligating language for a sub-set of poli

Republicans once lavished praise on an NIH center that deals with Alzheimer’s. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are hobbling it. What will they say now?

Here we describe the processes and quantify the outcomes of the SAKI project in Anoka County, MN – a mid-sized suburban/rural jurisdiction – and make comparisons to the three seminal SAKI evaluation p...

Research Summary In recent years, nutrition researchers have found that ice cream may have as many health benefits as low-fat milk or yoghurt for those with diabetes or at risk of diabetes. Nonethel...

The court will hear arguments this week over the “moment of the threat doctrine,” which addresses how much time can be taken into consideration when police kill people.

We discuss procedural justice theory and some of my own research on the topic.

Police should reconsider reselling their used guns, the ATF said, pushing back against a policy linked to over 1,000 deaths between 2019 and 2023.

Roughly 2 years ago I started building a database of fatal officer-involved shootings (OIS) at the agency-year level, going back in time as far as possible. If you’re not familiar with the OIS data la...

Roughly 2 years ago I started building a database of fatal officer-involved shootings (OIS) at the agency-year level, going back in time as far as possible. If you’re not familiar with the OIS data la...

The year 2024 was a historic one for Omaha, according to one of its highest-ranking law enforcement officials.

Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice