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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Reinforcing The Web Of Municipal Courts: Evidence And Implications Post-Ferguson, Beth Huebner, Andrea Giuffre
Reinforcing The Web Of Municipal Courts: Evidence And Implications Post-Ferguson, Beth Huebner, Andrea Giuffre
Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Works
Investigations in Ferguson, Missouri, revealed that many individuals, particularly Black people, entered the criminal justice system for relatively minor offenses, missed court appearances, or failure to pay fines. Municipal courts were focused on revenue generation, which led to aggressive enforcement of municipal codes. Although subsequent reforms were passed, little is known about whether and how the legislative changes influenced the law-in-action in the municipal courts. Using data from qualitative interviews with St. Louis area residents and regional court actors, as well as court observations, this article documents the legal structure of municipal courts in the region after Ferguson. We address …
To Shoot Or Not To Shoot: An Analysis Of Police Officers' Deadly Force Decision-Making Processes, Jordan Clare Pickering
To Shoot Or Not To Shoot: An Analysis Of Police Officers' Deadly Force Decision-Making Processes, Jordan Clare Pickering
Dissertations
How police officers exercise their unique power to use deadly force continues to be a topic of interest among academics and, due to recent events, has moved to the forefront of public policy concerns. A number of scholars have proposed theories as to how police officers make the decision to use deadly force, but arguably the most comprehensive deadly force decision-making framework was put forth by Arnold Binder and Peter Scharf three and a half decades ago (1980; Scharf and Binder, 1983). They posit that officers’ decision-making processes during an encounter that either includes police use of deadly force, or …
Race, Neighborhood Context, And Drug Enforcement: A Mixed-Method Analysis Of Racial Disparities In Drug Arrests, Shytierra Gaston
Race, Neighborhood Context, And Drug Enforcement: A Mixed-Method Analysis Of Racial Disparities In Drug Arrests, Shytierra Gaston
Dissertations
Black-white racial disparities in drug arrests are large and longstanding in the U.S. criminal justice system, as black Americans are arrested for drug offenses at a rate nearly five times the rate of white Americans. Because drug offending data mostly show that blacks are no more likely than whites to use or sell drugs, racial disparities in drug arrests appear to be attributable to factors other than drug offending. This dissertation assesses whether neighborhood contextual factors can explain racial disparities in drug arrests across St. Louis neighborhoods between 2009 and 2013. Using mixed methods, the quantitative and qualitative components test …
Police Contracting In St. Louis County: Focusing Events And Changes In Image And Venue In Five Case Studies, Alan W. Karr
Police Contracting In St. Louis County: Focusing Events And Changes In Image And Venue In Five Case Studies, Alan W. Karr
Dissertations
St. Louis County, Missouri is a fragmented suburban area, covering 505 square miles, with ninety separate municipalities. Fifty-six municipalities maintain in-house police departments, while thirty-four contract police services from other governments. Previous research concerning interjurisdictional collaboration efforts has been rooted in the rational choice theory. However, the rational choice theory alone does not explain why some municipalities do or do not enter into contracts for police services. The purpose of this work is to examine police contracting decisions in St. Louis County, specifically the drivers behind contracting discussions and decisions in five sample municipalities in St. Louis County. The five …