Despite the attention generated by high-profile cases of police violence against Black Americans, the impact of these events on citizen and police decision-making remains unsettled. Although existing studies document general effects of police violence on crime and policing, research has not adequately examined how these effects compound existing neighborhood inequalities. We examine the impact of Freddie Gray’s death while in police custody in Baltimore in 2015 on violent crime, the decision to call the police and arrest clearance rates. Both violent crimes and citywide 911 calls for violent crimes significantly increased following Gray’s death while arrest clearance rates for violent crimes significantly declined. Further, these changes were limited mostly to structurally disadvantaged neighborhoods. Our results demonstrate that the effects of high-profile police violence vary significantly by neighborhood disadvantage, with the largest increases in crime and decreases in police effectiveness concentrated in the most disadvantaged areas.
Publication Information
Midgette, Greg, Gary LaFree, Sarah Elsbeth Helen Appleby, and Mei Yang. 2025. “Crime and Law Enforcement After Fatal Police Encounters: Differential Impacts of Freddie Gray’s Death Across Baltimore Neighborhoods.” Justice Quarterly, December, 1–24. doi:10.1080/07418825.2025.2600357.