Many U.S. cities witnessed both de-policing and increased crime in 2020, yet whether the former contributed to the latter remains unclear. Indeed, much of what is known about the effects of proactive...
[122] Arresting Flexibility: A QJE field experiment on police behavior with about 40 outcome variables
A forthcoming paper in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (QJE), “A Cognitive View of Policing” (htm), reports results from a field experiment showing that teaching police officers to &…
Does Predictive Policing Lead to Biased Arrests? Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial
Racial bias in predictive policing algorithms has been the focus of a number of recent news articles, statements of concern by several national organizations (e.g., the ACLU and NAACP), and simulat...
Does Predictive Policing Lead to Biased Arrests? Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial
Racial bias in predictive policing algorithms has been the focus of a number of recent news articles, statements of concern by several national organizations (e.g., the ACLU and NAACP), and simulat...
How Baltimore Achieved Historically Low Homicides—With Less Police – Emerald Book
◆ Emerald Pages ◆ public safety / urban policy How Baltimore Achieved Historically Low Homicides—With Less Police Emerald Book Publication August 4, 2026 Updated: August 6, 2026 9 min read Baltimore has engineered a 68% drop in homicides since 2019, outpacing the national average—all while operating with 400 fewer officers. Here's how the city debunked
Police Abolition | The Paper Pilot
The Paper Pilot's digital garden of thoughts on philosophy, politics, and sociology
The Most Violent Police Force in Europe: Police Brutality in France — The World Mind
Contributing Editor Aaron Shires explores the rise in excessive use of force by French police forces and the disparate impact this has on racial minorities in France.
Predictive Policing and the Politics of Patterns
Abstract Patterns are the epistemological core of predictive policing. With the move towards digital prediction tools, the authority of the pattern is rearticulated and reinforced in police work. Based on empirical research about predictive policing software and practices, this article puts the authority of patterns into perspective. Introducing four ideal-typical styles of pattern identification, we illustrate that patterns are not based on a singular logic, but on varying rationalities that give form to and formalize different understandings about crime. Yet, patterns render such different modes of reasoning about crime, and the way in which they feed back into policing cultures, opaque. Ultimately, this invites a stronger reflection about the political nature of patterns.
Armer les polices municipales : une dangereuse singularité française - AOC media
Tout juste élu maire de Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko a annoncé le désarmement progressif de sa police municipale, LBD compris. Une décision à rebours de la tendance française – et pourtant parfaitement conforme aux choix des pays européens où l'État de droit, la démocratie et les droits humains sont le mieux assurés.
How AI-powered policing is endangering the public’s trust in police
Growing concerns about police use of AI could erode the public’s perception of trust in the legal system.
How AI-powered policing is endangering the public’s trust in police
Growing concerns about police use of AI could erode the public’s perception of trust in the legal system.
Predictive Policing and the Politics of Patterns
Abstract. Patterns are the epistemological core of predictive policing. With the move towards digital prediction tools, the authority of the pattern is rea
What the latest research tells us about racial bias in policing
What we know, and importantly don't know, about the latest research on racial bias in policing.
The Pre-emption of Resistance: Occupy Oakland and the Evolution of State Power
Author(s): Behbehanian, Laleh | Advisor(s): Burawoy, Michael B | Abstract: This dissertation aims to contribute to our understanding of contemporary state strategies targeting social movements by examining the case of Occupy Oakland. Emphasizing how state strategies, both tactical and discursive, dynamically evolve through their iterative relation to movement strategies, it presents a detailed empirical account that is disaggregated into three “moments”, each of which are characterized by the predominance of a distinct state strategic repertoire. The objective is to highlight an underlying transformation through which the state’s strategies evolve from being highly reactive, indiscriminate and vulnerable to spectacularization to becoming increasingly pre-emptive, targeted and discursively buttressed.The first “moment” commences with the movement’s occupation of Oscar Grant Plaza. Faced with Occupy Oakland’s highly disruptive tactics and its firm rejection of any forms of negotiation or cooperation with City officials, the state resorts to a strategy of Naked Coercion (reactive, indiscriminate violence that is highly vulnerable to spectacularization) which backfires and results in an internationally televised disaster on the evening of October 25th. This creates an extraordinary window of opportunity for the movement, dramatically increasing public support and enabling it to undertake the first general strike in the U.S. since 1946. This fuels a process of adaptation as the struggle proceeds into the second “moment”, and the state shifts to a strategy of Targeted Repression that is increasingly pro-active, targeted and discursively buttressed so as to diminish the danger of its spectacularization. The new strategy succeeds in permanently dislodging the occupation of Oscar Grant Plaza, as well as criminalizing the tactic of occupation and excising it from movement’s repertoire. Still unsatisfied with the repression it had achieved, in the third and final “moment” the state introduces a strategy of Pre-emptive Neutralization that is pre-emptively oriented, targeted at high “risk” populations and discursively buttressed by powerful spectacles of “risk”. This enables a thorough incapacitation of the movement – fully neutralizing its potential for collective action by rendering Occupiers a target population that could no longer even publicly assemble without inciting highly militarized police responses that were now pre-emptively justified by the risk of “violence” they collectively posed.
A Cognitive View of Policing
Abstract What causes adverse policing outcomes, such as excessive uses of force and unnecessary arrests? Prevailing explanations focus on problematic officers or deficient regulations and oversight. We introduce an overlooked perspective. We suggest that the cognitive demands inherent in policing can undermine officer decision making. Unless officers are prepared for these demands, they may jump to conclusions too quickly without fully considering alternative ways of seeing a situation. This can lead to adverse policing outcomes. To test this perspective, we created a new training that teaches officers to consider different ways of interpreting the situations they encounter. We evaluated this training using a randomized controlled trial with 2,070 officers from the Chicago Police Department. In a series of lab assessments, we find that treated officers were significantly more likely to consider a wider range of evidence and develop more explanations for subjects’ actions. Critically, we also find that training affected officer performance in the field, leading to reductions in uses of force, discretionary arrests, and arrests of Black civilians. Meanwhile, officer activity levels remained unchanged, and trained officers were less likely to be injured on duty. Our results highlight the value of considering the cognitive aspects of policing and demonstrate the power of using behaviorally informed approaches to improve officer decision making and policing outcomes.
