New Data on Boston Crime a ‘Good Sign,’ Cronin Says
Nine months into 2020, the city of Boston had seen an alarming 45 homicides. That number is down to 32 this year, according to data recently released by the Boston Police Department. Speaking about the findings with WGBH, BU MET Associate Chair of Applied Social Sciences and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Shea Cronin called […]
Cronin: ‘Unquestionably’ Right Verdict Reached in Chauvin Case, But Urgency of Comprehensive Reform Remains
On Tuesday, April 20, 2021, a Minnesota jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder in the second degree, among other charges, for the wrongful death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Video footage of the uniformed, on-duty Chauvin kneeling on the neck of handcuffed Floyd for over nine minutes, captured […]
First Episode of MET Makes Conversation Podcast Tackles ‘Meaningful Change’ in Police Reform
Boston University’s Metropolitan College has entered the world of podcasting. The new show, MET Makes Conversation, is a resource for listeners to hear valuable perspectives on matters of the day via substantive discussions by BU MET faculty and thought leaders. The Movement for Black Lives has in recent years brought greater public attention to calls […]
While Boston Police Reform Ideas a Strong Start, MET Experts Say Greater Efforts Would Bring Greater Returns
Writing in the “POV” section of BU Today, BU MET Associate Chair of Applied Social Sciences and Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Shea Cronin and Rebecca Anne McKnight (MET’21), a graduate student in MET’s criminal justice program, offered their perspective on a new set of recommendations made by the Boston Police Reform Task Force. Appointed […]
MET Crime Expert Says Massachusetts’s Homicide Rate Flat
MET Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Shea Cronin told the Boston Globe that despite a modest uptick in the number of homicides in the Bay State per 100,000 people, the overall rate—which remains less than the national average—is generally unchanged for the last two decades. Read more in the Boston Globe.
More Segregation Leads to Greater Likelihood of Gun Death for Racial Minorities, MET Prof’s Study Finds
MET Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Shea Cronin has co-authored a study published in the Journal of the National Medical Association that finds a correlating link between racial segregation in housing and gun-violence homicide rates. The School of Public Health-led research—which controlled for such factors as economic standing, education, and employment status—used a metric that […]
Violent Crime Issue Here to Stay, Says MET Expert
Even when overall crime rates lower, law enforcement faces an uphill battle in combating urban violence, and according to a Metropolitan College authority on the matter, police are unlikely to ever completely eradicate the issue. Dr. Shea Cronin, an assistant professor in Metropolitan College’s Master of Criminal Justice program, recently spoke with the Boston Globe […]
Despite Boston Police’s Efforts, MET Expert Sees Little Change in Racial Disparity
Boston police say they have tried to address the practices that lead to racial minorities being stopped by law enforcement at an outsized rate, but observers have found the evidence lacking. MET Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Shea Cronin was quoted in an AP News article, “APNewsBreak: Boston police make little progress on race gap.” […]
What Constitutes “Reasonable Suspicion”?
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Shea Cronin was quoted in a recent Christian Science Monitor article entitled “‘Reasonable suspicion’ defined: Black men who run from police can’t be assumed guilty.” The article outlines a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling that takes aim at racial profiling and states that black males “when approached by the police, […]
MET Criminal Justice Expert Cited in Cop Profiling Report
Boston police may be making progress in resolving the racial disparities among those they stop and frisk, but according to a MET professor of Criminal Justice, the purported improvement in profiling practices is being overblown by the department. Read the remarks by Assistant Professor Shea Cronin at ABC News.