1119 - Forging a Science of Policing’s Consequences

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Description

As concerns about persistent and high-profile incidents of police misconduct mount, and a consensus emerges that “Zero Tolerance” and “Tough on Crime” policing does not promote public safety, community-focused policing reform occupies renewed public attention. We believe that neither demands for officer accountability nor sustainable departmental reform, will emerge absent a data-driven social justice agenda. Specifically, panelists will highlight how empirical social science research can diagnose and remedy the pain points of officer bias, weak department policies, as well as racially disparate policing practices. Critically, session participants will present evidence from new research on the collateral consequences of police contact, filling knowledge, theory, and praxis gaps in police/community relations, with the express aim of bolstering empirically-based social justice advancement. For the proposed thematic session, participants will approach the consequences of police contact informed by sociological, criminological, and psychological disciplines. Specifically, participants will advance a discussion that leverages the utility of research science for proposing sustainable recommendations for addressing the following challenges in contemporary policing: racially disparate policing as a public health crisis for civilians and law enforcement personnel; the adverse impact of police contact on political socialization and civic participation; and the impact that police misconduct has on civilians’ diminishing reliance on police for service calls and crime control. Finally, the panel will include an assessment of the application of these multidisciplinary findings, by each panelist as well as by the session’s discussant, the nation’s highestranking law enforcement executive tasked principally with issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The aim of this panel is to bridge the potential for reform offered through research and the needs of practicing law enforcement, with the ultimate goal of reducing burdens on communities that are most vulnerable to negative consequences from police contact.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Session

Session Organizers

• Erin M Kerrison, University of California, Berkeley

• Phillip Atiba Goff, Center for Policing Equity

Presider

• Erin M Kerrison, University of California, Berkeley

Individual Presentations

• Prognosis… Reform: How Data-Driven Policing Can Improve Public Health and Safety - Erin M. Kerrison, Center for Policing Equity; Phillip Atiba Goff, Center for Policing Equity

• The Network Structure of Police Misconduct in Chicago - Andrew V. Papachristos, Northwestern University

• Justice is ‘Just Us’: Harnessing Technology to Expand our Understanding of the Individual and Communal Consequences of Policing in the United States - Vesla Weaver, Johns Hopkins University

Discussant

• Tracie Keesee, New York City Police Department