The 2020 murder of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police spurred more than 20 million people to demonstrate, the largest social protests in U.S. history. In a series of studies, criminologists assess the impacts of the protests on the criminal justice system. The studies focus on two aspects of the protests: 1) the policy changes to policing and public safety that resulted from the protests, including police turnover, police institutional change, and public safety, and 2) public attitudes and discussions about the protests, including the protests’ impact on public opinion, media accounts of the protests, and protesters’ perceptions about defunding the police and related matters.
The studies were conducted by scholars from the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and appear in a special issue of Criminology & Public Policy , the flagship policy and practice journal of the society, edited by Cynthia Lum and Christopher Koper at George Mason University.
“High-profile events like the George Floyd murder and resulting protests provide areas for new scholarly inquiry from multiple disciplines,” suggest Joshua D. Freilich, professor of criminal justice at John Jay College, and Steven Chermak, professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University, editors of the special issue, in the introduction. “Criminologists have joined this effort, trying to make sense through research of Floyd’s murder, the existing criminal justice system that helped contribute to it, and the ensuing protests.”
The special issue is a start to these inquiries, Freilich and Chermak note, but more is needed. “Studies indicate widespread support for efforts to reform the police but it is less clear what specific actions should be taken to do so, how to overcome bureaucratic inertia, and to what extent protests affect public opinion or police reform,” they say. “The discussions in this issue are just the beginning of paying attention to these crucial questions.”
The special issue features the following seven articles:
The special issue also includes the ASC Vollmer Award address, presented by distinguished policing scholar Lawrence Sherman. His lecture, entitled, “Goldilocks and the Three T’s”: Targeting, Testing, and Tracking for ‘Just Right’ Democratic Policing,” explores how evidence-based policing is essential in policing reform in democracies. Professor Sherman will deliver this public lecture online on February 9, 2022 (see https://cebcp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Sherman-Vollmer-Address-Flyer.pdf ) for more information.
Criminology & Public Policy
George Floyd Protests and the Criminal Justice System
17-Feb-2022