Richard Rosenfeld is founders professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. His research focuses on crime trends and crime control policy. Rosenfeld is a Fellow and past President of the American Society of Criminology. He serves on the Science Advisory Board of the Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice, and he is the principal investigator of the St. Louis Public Safety Partnership.
Abstract
The killing of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, could not have been predicted. Police shootings of unarmed suspects are rare events. But neither was Michael Brown’s killing a random occurrence. With the benefit of hindsight it is clear that conditions in Ferguson – and in thousands of other similar communities across the country – were ripe for an encounter between a police officer and a citizen to turn deadly. And given the fragmented and exploitative structure of governance in St. Louis County, which disproportionately harms disadvantaged African-Americans, the community upheaval following Michael Brown’s killing is not surprising.
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