Camden, New Jersey’s homicide rate in 2025 was four times the national average – still high, but a marked change from when it was 18 times the national average in 2012.
— Read on theconversation.com/how-community-groups-activists-and-local-media-turned-camden-new-jersey-into-a-model-of-police-reform-282835
Category: CRJ101 Intro CJ
Did a “Minneapolis Effect” and Later De-Policing Cause Firearms Crimes to Spike in 2020?
My essay on the topic collects the available empirical research. There is support for the theory that, as police across the nation pulled back from some forms of proactive policing after protests surrounding George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis, homicides and gun violence increased as a result.
— Read on reason.com/volokh/2026/07/14/did-a-minneapolis-effect-and-later-de-policing-cause-firearms-crimes-to-spike-in-2020/
Widespread Misuse of Crowd-Control Weapons by Law Enforcement | Research UC Berkeley
Open-source investigation documents many incidents of misuse and injuries across 16 U.S.
— Read on vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/widespread-misuse-crowd-control-weapons-law-enforcement
The Scourge of Teen Takeovers
Why youths are rampaging in cities across America—and how to stop it
— Read on www.city-journal.org/article/teen-takeovers-streets-us-cities-looting
A guide to racism in the criminal justice system
A repository of studies, surveys, and reports on the disparate ways white, Black, and Latino people are treated by police, prosecutors, courts, and prisons
— Read on radleybalko.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-racism-in-the-criminal
Buffalo could create new police oversight body : Investigative Post
The new body wouldn’t have the power to discipline officers but could gather complaints and information about misconduct and recommend reforms to city leadership. The proposal could be on the ballot for a referendum vote in November.
— Read on investigativepost.org/2026/07/09/buffalo-could-create-new-police-oversight-body/
No, Seriously, Decriminalizing Drugs Kills People
A new study should lay to rest the debate over legalization.
Is banning drugs a bad idea? For decades, libertarians and progressives have insisted that prohibition creates more harm than it prevents, producing needless arrests and prison sentences while pushing users into the shadows where overdose is more likely. That argument won some purchase among the public: as of 2019, a majority of Americans endorsed making drug crimes into civil offenses instead of felonies, treating them more like minor traffic violations than something meriting prison time.
In 2021, the legalizer coalition got to run their experiment. That year, Oregon and Washington both effectively decriminalized the possession of small amounts of all controlled substances, replacing potential prison sentences with a regime of minimal fines. Proponents promised a steep decline in overdose deaths and improvement in public safety. But did that happen?
See the report HERE
After 50 Years, The Death Penalty Is Far More Broken Than We Knew | The Marshall Project
The racial disparities, the arbitrary outcomes, the endless waiting and the risk of executing the innocent persist.
— Read on www.themarshallproject.org/2026/06/22/death-penalty-50th-gregg-georgia-executions
How California Effectively Legalized an Open-Air Sex Market
Four years after passage of a disastrous 2022 law, cops roll past as prostitutes walk the Figueroa corridor.
— Read on www.city-journal.org/article/figueroa-california-prostitution-sex-trafficking
How Two California Cities Are Reducing Street Homelessness
Declines in San Francisco and San Jose offer lessons for other cities grappling with encampments and public disorder.
— Read on www.city-journal.org/article/san-francisco-san-jose-homeless-encampments
Future of Policing 