Ask a Criminologist: Understanding Increases in Homicide Rates: How the Opioid Epidemic and Police-Community Relations Impact Homicides
May 22, 2018 | 2:00 pm-3:30 pm EDT
Congressional “Ask a Criminologist” Series
Understanding Increases in Homicide Rates: How the Opioid Epidemic and Police-Community Relations Impact Homicides
Tuesday, May 22 at 2:00 PM
2226 Rayburn House Office Building
Ice cream and coffee will be served
Please join the Crime & Justice Research Alliance (CJRA) and the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) for our third annual “Ask a Criminologist” Congressional briefing with leading criminology experts from around the country exploring the most important topics in crime, justice, policing and national security. These briefings provide an opportunity for Congressional staff and key stakeholders to engage directly with the experts conducting research on a range of public safety and justice system topics.
This briefing will explore the key factors that led to an increase in homicide rates in communities across the United States in 2015 and 2016, and how criminologists have been using research and statistics to help policymakers identify and address these causes. A new report published by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), “Assessing and Responding to the Recent Homicide Rise in the United States,” suggests an expansion in the illicit drug market, as a result of the opioid epidemic, may be a significant factor in the overall homicide rise since drug-related homicides rose at a higher rate than other types of homicides. Strained police-community relations were found to be another factor, particularly with regards to greater levels of discontent between the police and the community.
The panel will be moderated by Dr. Nancy La Vigne, the Past Chair of CJRA and Vice President of Justice Policy at the Urban Institute, and featured speakers will include Dr. Howard Spivak, Deputy Director of NIJ, Richard Biehl, Chief of Police for the City of Dayton, Ohio and Dr. Shytierra Gaston, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Indiana University.
Please RSVP online using this link
About CJRA: The Crime and Justice Research Alliance (CJRA) is a centralized resource of authoritative experts and scholarly studies created to provide policymakers, practitioners and the public direct access to relevant research on crime and criminal justice issues. Formed in 2015, CJRA is a collaborative partnership between the nation’s two leading criminal justice scholar associations, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) and the American Society of Criminology (ASC), which represent more than 5,000 criminal justice scholars and research experts. For more information, please visit www.crimeandjusticeresearchalliance.org or @CJRAlliance.
About COSSA: The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) is a nonprofit advocacy organization working to promote sustainable federal funding for social and behavioral science research and federal policies that positively impact the conduct of research. COSSA serves as a united voice for a broad, diverse network of organizations, institutions, communities and stakeholders who care about a successful and vibrant social science research enterprise. For more information, please visit www.cossa.org and @COSSADC.