Goldilocks and the three “Ts”: Targeting, testing, and tracking for “just right” democratic policing
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Authors
Sherman, LW
Publication Date
2022Journal Title
Criminology and Public Policy
ISSN
1538-6473
Publisher
Wiley
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Sherman, L. (2022). Goldilocks and the three “Ts”: Targeting, testing, and tracking for “just right” democratic policing. Criminology and Public Policy https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12578
Abstract
In this lecture, I frame the issue as follows: Can more widespread use of
better research evidence on targeting, testing, and tracking police
actions, shared more clearly among the public and police, help reduce
the wide range of oscillation between over-policing and under-policing?
The use of these questions in public dialogue would be especially
relevant to the three biggest threats to police legitimacy in the aftermath
of George Floyd’s murder: A) police killing people, B) police stopping
people, and C) police under-patrolling high crime hot spots (while overpatrolling
low crime areas). One result of applying the three-Ts questions
to these threats, for example, could be the end of the vast over-use of
stop & search in low-violence areas. At the same time, this approach
could also lead to reductions in homicide by increasing stops in highestviolence
hot spots. Such changes could demonstrate how the “Goldilocks
principle” for the three Ts could get policing closer to “just right” for each
place and person being policed.
Embargo Lift Date
2024-01-20
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12578
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/332970
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