Police brutality in the United States, the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers. Forms of police brutality have ranged from assault and battery (e.g., beatings) to mayhem, torture, and murder. Some broader definitions of police brutality also encompass harassment (including false arrest), intimidation, and verbal abuse,…
Category: Publications
Ramy El-Kady: Artificial Intelligence and Criminal Law
The world is on the cusp of entering a new era of artificial intelligence, and it has become necessary to develop laws. Artificial intelligence is one of the most critical topics for criminal law jurists, given that there is a need to establish legal rules commensurate with the nature of this technology that is expected…
Joe Burton, Ardi Janjeva, Simon Moseley: AI and Serious Online Crime
This report presents the findings of a CETaS research project on the role of AI in serious online criminality. The aim of the report is to provide an evidence-based understanding of how the proliferation of AI systems is reshaping the landscape of serious online criminality. This research aims to equip policymakers and security practitioners to…
Shadow Report: Combating Organised Crime
During 2023–2024, the Overarching Strategic Plan for Reforming Law Enforcement Agencies as part of the Security and Defence Sector of Ukraine for 2023–2027 and the Government’s Action Plan for its implementation were adopted. These documents are key to state policy in the field of law enforcement system development. Legislation in the field of combating organised…
Bas Böing, Peter De Vries, Ellen Giebels: Creating Controversy: Developing a Virtual Reality Training Tool With 360° Film to Engage in Ethnic Profiling Reform
Ethnic profiling is a topic that is challenging to address in policing communities. Many police officers doubt its existence or find it too trivial and irrelevant to worry about. Others may find it important, but do not feel psychologically safe to discuss it with their colleagues. Many police officers, therefore, ignore training and conversations on…
Kristin Castner: PanCOPticon: Policing in the Eye of 21 st Century Surveillance Technology
This thesis uses a cumulative view of police theory and methodology as a foundation for an investigation into the role of surveillance technology in a large-scale metropolitan police department. Using Foucault’s notion of panopticism as a guide, original research will show how the use of technological surveillance by police superiors resulted or failed to result…
Alexandra Kerrigan: Swapping Cops for Cameras: Repressive Panopticon or the Future of Policing? A Case Study on Hyderabad’s Government Surveillance
Amid escalating concerns regarding racial justice in recent years, police system reform has emerged as one of the most salient topics in politics. Several competing visions for the future of policing have emerged within the United States—with some cities adopting an abolition approach, others opting to defund their police systems, and many maintaining or increasing…
Esther K. Hong: The Carceral State(s)
The carceral state is everywhere. Legal and social science scholars are increasingly using the carceral state concept to criticize various aspects, or even the entirety, of the United States. But despite how popular and common this term has become in writings about mass incarceration, criminal processes and punishments, and other forms of social control, the…