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1. New Age Lynching: The Effects of Police Brutality on Communities of Color in the United States

   Packer, Tiffany (February 2021, The bulletin)

   null (Ed.)

   New Age Lynching: The Effects of Police Brutality on Communities of Color in the United States is a primarily student curated, museum style exhibition centered around the problems of policing in American communities of color. This exhibition served the city of Charlotte, North Carolina from September 2013 to September 2019 on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University as well as at the nationally recognized, Levine Museum of the New South. Beginning in Spring of 2019, an extension of New Age Lynching: The Effects of Police Brutality on Communities of Color in the United States has also been on display in Tallahassee, Florida at the campus of Florida A&M University. The complete showcase consists of 40+ individual personal stories of people of color who were killed or severely injured at the hands of police or while in police custody. The aim of this collection is to bring awareness to the misuse of power by authorities, but without the intent of slandering or promoting ideals of being anti-police. Instead, this work primarily seeks to focus on victims by humanizing them through recreating their stories which captures their life both inside and outside of their tragedies. The successfully executed vision around this project has been to inspire open, honest, and safe conversations among the public about police brutality in communities of color. Further, the vision includes encouraging constructive community involvement through activism. This exhibit and the conversations cultivated around it facilitates the act of deconstructing barriers of miscommunication and misunderstanding, particularly between black and brown people and law enforcement. 

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2. Changes in public–police cooperation following the murder of George Floyd

   https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac189  

   Brantingham, P. Jeffrey; Mohler, George; MacDonald, John; Pescosolido, ed., Bernice (September 2022, PNAS Nexus)

   Abstract The murder of George Floyd triggered a broad social response and noticeable shift in public opinion of policing. Since policing is dependent upon public cooperation, a question is whether the shift in opinion had an effect on police calls-for-service. Data from Los Angeles and New York City are evaluated using a regression discontinuity design. Violent crime, property crime, and quality-of-life disorder calls are analyzed to address differences in reporting norms. The role of racial–ethnic composition of local areas is assessed by examining census tracts where the majority of the residential population is Asian, Black, Hispanic, or White. Following the murder of George Floyd, in New York City violent crime, property crime, and quality-of-life calls all increased significantly. In Los Angeles, quality-of-life calls for service decreased significantly. The increase in violent crime calls observed in New York was greatest in areas where the majority of residents are Black, whereas the increase in property crime calls was the greatest in areas where a majority of residents are White. The decrease in quality-of-life calls observed in Los Angeles was in areas where the majority of residents are White. In both cases, the effect was relatively short-lived. 

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3. A mixed‐methods assessment of off‐duty police shootings in a media‐curated database

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14170  

   Asabor, Emmanuella Ngozi; Lett, Elle; Mosely, Brein; Boone, Cheriko A.; Sundaresan, Saahil; Wong, Tian An; Majumder, Maimuna S. (June 2023, Health Services Research)

   Abstract ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to examine rates of killings perpetrated by off‐duty police and news coverage of those killings, by victim race and gender, and to qualitatively evaluate the contexts in which those killings occur. Data Sources and Study SettingWe used the Mapping Police Violence database to curate a dataset of killings perpetrated by off‐duty police (2013–2021,N = 242). We obtained data from Media Cloud to assess news coverage of each off‐duty police‐perpetrated killing. Study DesignOur study used a convergent mixed‐methods design. We examined off‐duty police‐perpetrated killings by victim race and gender, comparing absolute rates and rates relative to total police‐perpetrated killings. [Correction added on 26 June 2023, after first online publication: ‘policy‐perpetrated’ has been changed to ‘police‐perpetrated’ in the preceding sentence.] We also conducted race‐gender comparisons of the frequency of news media reporting of these killings, and whether reporting identified the perpetrator as an off‐duty officer. We conducted thematic analysis of the narrative free‐text field that accompanied quantitative data using grounded theory. Principal FindingsBlack men were the most frequent victims killed by off‐duty police (39.3%) followed by white men (25.2%), Hispanic men (11.2%), white women (9.1%), men of unknown race (9.1%), and Black women (4.1%). Black women had the highest rate of off‐duty/total police‐perpetrated killings relative to white men (rate = 12.82%, RR = 8.32, 95% CI: 4.43–15.63). There were threefold higher odds of news reporting of a police‐perpetrated killing and the off‐duty status of the officer for incidents with Black and Hispanic victims. Qualitative analysis revealed that off‐duty officers intervened violently within their own social networks; their presence escalated situations; they intentionally obscured information about their lethal violence; they intervened while impaired; their victims were often in crisis; and their intervention posed harm and potential secondary traumatization to witnesses. ConclusionsPolice perpetrate lethal violence while off duty, compromising public health and safety. Additionally, off‐duty police‐perpetrated killings are reported differentially by the news media depending on the race of the victim. 

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4. Gang‐related crime in Los Angeles remained stable following COVID‐19 social distancing orders

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12541  

   Jeffrey_Brantingham, Paul; Tita, George_E; Mohler, George (April 2021, Criminology & Public Policy)

   Research SummaryThe onset of extreme social distancing measures is expected to have a dramatic impact on crime. Here, we examine the impact of mandated, city‐wide social distancing orders aimed at limiting the spread of COVID‐19 on gang‐related crime in Los Angeles. We hypothesize that the unique subcultural processes surrounding gangs may supersede calls to shelter in place and allow gang‐related crime to persist. If the normal guardianship of people and property is also disrupted by social distancing, then we expect gang violence to increase. Using autoregressive time series models, we show that gang‐related crime remained stable and crime hot spots largely stationary following the onset of shelter in place. Policy ImplicationsIn responding to disruptions to social and economic life on the scale of the present pandemic, both police and civilian organizations need to anticipate continued demand, all while managing potential reductions to workforce. Police are faced with this challenge across a wide array of crime types. Civilian interventionists tasked with responding to gang‐related crime need to be prepared for continued peacekeeping and violence interruption activities, but also an expansion of responsibilities to deal with “frontline” or “street‐level” management of public health needs. 

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5. Data Analysis and Visualization of Crime Data

   https://doi.org/10.2352/EI.2024.36.1.VDA-364  

   Sharma, Sharad; Dronavalli, Sri Chandra (January 2024, Electronic Imaging)

   The rise in crime rates over the past few years is a major issue and is a huge source of worry for police departments and law enforcement organizations. Crime severely harms the lives of victims and the communities they live in many places throughout the world. It is an issue of public disturbance, and large cities often see criminal activity. Many studies, media, and websites include statistics on crime and it is contributing elements, such as population, unemployment, and poverty rate. This paper compares and visualizes the crime data for four different cities in the USA, namely Chicago, Baltimore, Dallas, and Denton. We assess areas that are significantly affected based on zip codes and variations in crime categories. As the crime rates have significantly changed both upward and downward throughout time, these changes are compared to their external causes such as population, unemployment, and poverty. The results show crime frequency and distribution across four different cities and supply valuable information about the complex relationship between social factors and criminal behavior. These results and outcomes will help the police department and law enforcement organizations better understand crime issues, map crime incidents onto a geographical map, and supply insight into factors affecting crime that will help them deploy resources and help in their decision-making process. 

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