Due to some legislative drafting quirks, our nation’s oldestnational park features a 50-square-mile corridor where it is theoretically possible to commit a serious crime without being punished. This legal loophole played a role in C.J. Box’s heart-pounding murder mystery, Free-Fire, featuringWyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. Brian Kalt, Professor of Law at Michigan State University, generated lots of interest but alas no reform when he wrote about this loophole in a Georgetown Law Review article. Hear him explain how animprobable series of uncoordinated legal decisions made it possible to get away with murder in Yellowstone’s Zone of Death!
False confessions are not just an interesting plot twist in police dramas; they are fairly common in real life. Teenagers are especially likely to make a false confession when interrogated by the police. Hayley Cleary, Professor of Criminology at Virginia Commonwealth University, explains the psychology of police interrogations and the greater risks for young defendants. She also discusses potential remedies adopted by some states, including video-taped interrogations and mandatory access to an attorney.
If your credit card or banking account has ever been compromised by cybercrime, you know that cybercrime is no laughing matter. What exactly is cybercrime? Who are the victims? The perpetrators? Most of us never report cybercrime to local law enforcement authorities. Is that a mistake? What is the F.B.I.'s role in combating cybercrime? How is A.I. making matters worse? And how can we protect ourselves from multiple cyber threats? Jin Lee, Assistant Professor of Criminology at George Mason University and the author of multiple articles on cybercrime, helps us to understand a complex but important subject.
Does the nature of a citizen’s encounter with a policeofficer depend on whether that officer is Black or white, male or female, a Democrat or a Republican, experienced or inexperienced? Roman Rivera, an economist and criminologist at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, offers evidence that race and gender are good predictors of whether an officer will use force and/or make an arrest. Demographics matter most whenless serious crimes are committed.
Professor Jens Ludwig of the University of Chicago has been studying gun violence for much of his adult life. He offers fresh insights into the subject in his new book, Unforgiving Places (University of Chicago Press, 2025). In a wide-ranging conversation, Ludwig argues that we need neighborhoods with “more eyes on the street” to prevent verbal altercationsfrom escalating and multiple programs that teach young people to be less impulsive and more deliberate in situations where pride and anger can easily explode.
What are “ghost guns” and why do law enforcement officials worry so much about these easily-assembled firearms? Dr. Garen Wintemute, Distinguished Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of California-Davis, offers a primer on the subject, which he has studied in depth. He distinguishes between ghost guns and other firearms, explains the BATF’s 2022 ghost gun rule, and discusses the Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling on ghost guns in Bondi v Vanderstok. As a coda, Dr. Wintemute, an emergency department physician, vividly describes what he sees when a gunshot victim is treated at the UC-Davis Level 1 trauma center.
At the urging of Oeindrila Dube and her colleagues, the Chicago Police Department has adopted a new police training program called Situational Decision-making (or Sit-D). This training regimen, which includes simulations and realistic videos, integrates principles of behavioral economics to reduce cognitive bias when police officers make quick decisions in the field. Dube, Professor of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, explains how Sit-D changes the way that police officers process information and make decisions. The use of non- lethal force has declined by 23 percent and discretionary arrests have declined by 23 percent, while officer safety has improved. Other police departments have expressed interest in this new approach.
Many school districts in the U.S. hire local police officers to make schools safer. Supporters say school resource officers (SROs) reduce crime through law enforcement and mentoring; critics say they transform petty crimes into school suspensions and arrests that disrupt student progress, especially for Black male students. According to Lucy Sorensen, Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the University at Albany, there is some truth to both arguments. Her studies show that SROs reduce physical fights and altercations but increase school suspensions, expulsions, and arrests. Reforms include reducing the number of SROs, redefining their roles, or better training.
A remarkable Irish-American, Francis O’Neill, rose up through the ranks of the Chicago police force in the late 19 th century to become the Chief of Police. He would later publish one of the finest collections of Irish folk music ever assembled, with 1,800 tunes that he and his “collectors” (many of them cops) committed to memory and then to print. Join Michael O’Malley, Professor of History at George Mason University and author of BEAT COP, for a lively discussion of policing, Irish music, and how the two intersected.
Recorded on Nov 27, 2024.
Most local law enforcement agencies have their own closed-circuit TV systems, aimed at curbing crime and apprehending criminals. According to Eric Piza, Professor of Criminology at Northeastern University, who has studied this in Newark, N.J. and elsewhere, CCTV systems can reduce both violent crime and property crime if linked to strategic staff deployment. In the absence of that integrated approach, CCTV systems may still reduce property crime, such as auto thefts.
Recorded on Nov 22, 2024.
When a serious crime is in progress, lethal force is sometimes necessary. But police officers often face big information deficits when trying to decide whether to shoot a suspect. David Klinger, Professor of Criminology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has been there himself, as a police officer in Los Angeles and Redmond, Washington. And he has interviewed over 100 police officers nationwide to learn more. He discusses how group dynamics, fragmentary information, and a sense of urgency create pressure-cooker situations where police sometimes make mistakes – not shooting when they should or shooting when they shouldn’t.
Some police department buildings strike observers as “welcoming,” while others seem intimidating or austere. Research by Georgetown University Assistant Professor of Public Policy Andrea Headley finds that a police department’s appearance matters, that more welcoming structures are associated with more positive affect from citizens. But race/ethnicity and prior arrest records moderate that relationship in interesting ways. Learn how architectural design, landscape, and even signage can create lasting impressions and influence how citizens view the police.
Recorded on July 9, 2024
In 2016, Georgetown University Law Professor Rosa Brooks joined the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department as a reserve officer. She served part-time from 2016 to 2020 and wrote a book about her experiences, Tangled Up in Blue. Find out why patrol officers avoid kitchens, why they discourage suspects from sitting on sofas, and why they clank when they walk. Prof. Brooks argues that police officers face real but exaggerated threats to their personal safety, and she attributes much of their behavior, good and bad, to the expectations of politicians and constituents.
Recorded on April 18, 2024
Body-worn cameras are now deployed by more than two-thirds of all police departments in the U.S. Patrol officers commonly use them, but increasingly detectives, meter maids, and even police dogs are being equipped with BWCs. Professor Michael White of Arizona State University testified on this subject before President Obama’s Commission on 21st Century Policing. Hear what he has to say about how body cameras work in practice and the effects they have on complaints by citizens, the use of force by police officers, and other outcomes.
Interview was conducted on March 6, 2024
Although China is an authoritarian regime, its local police officers are surprisingly weak. They have high caseloads and lots of paperwork to complete and do not carry guns. When political protests arise, however, China enlists the People’s Armed Police to suppress dissent, speedily and forcefully. Suzanne Scoggins, Associate Professor of Political Science at Clark University, discusses how the tedium of everyday policing changes dramatically when social unrest poses a threat to regime stability and the appearance of social harmony.
Interview was conducted on March 5, 2024
Prof. Michael Sierra-Arevalo of the University of Texas discusses the “danger imperative” that frames the daily activities of police officers throughout the U.S. Learn about a deeply-embedded fear of violence that shapes numerous decisions police officers make – whether to confront a group of idle teenagers, whether to engage in a high-speed car chase, whether to wear a seat belt. The author of a new book on this subject discusses the culture of policing, why it matters, and how it might be changed.
Interview was conducted on February 6, 2024