Anthony Braga
{{short description|American criminologist}}
Anthony Allan Braga (born 1969) is an American criminologist and the Jerry Lee Professor of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania.{{Cite web|title=People {{!}} Department of Criminology|url=https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/people/anthony-braga%20.%20Retrieved%2031%20December%202021.|access-date=2022-01-03|website=crim.sas.upenn.edu}} Braga is also the Director of the Crime and Justice Policy Lab at the University of Pennsylvania.{{Cite web|title=Home|url=https://crimejusticelab.org/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Crime and Justice Policy Lab|language=en-US}} He previously held faculty and senior research positions at Harvard University, Northeastern University, Rutgers University, and the University of California at Berkeley.{{cite web|title=Anthony Braga CV|url=https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Anthony%20Braga%20CV%20July%202021.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103171147/https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Anthony%20Braga%20CV%20July%202021.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-03 |accessdate=}} Braga is a member of the federal monitor team overseeing the reforms to New York City Police Department (NYPD) policies, training, supervision, auditing, and handling of complaints and discipline regarding stops and frisks and trespass enforcement.{{Cite web|date=2015-06-17|title=Overview|url=http://nypdmonitor.org/overview/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=NYPD Monitor|language=en-US}}{{Infobox scientist
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| name = Anthony Braga
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| nationality = American
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| fields = Criminology
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| workplaces = Northeastern University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania
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| education = University of Massachusetts
(B.A., 1991)
Rutgers University
(M.A., 1993; Ph.D., 1997)
Harvard University
(M.P.A., 2002)
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| thesis_title = Solving violent crime problems: an evaluation of the Jersey City Police Department's pilot program to control violent places
| thesis_url = https://books.google.com/books/about/Solving_Violent_Crime_Problems.html?id=xh1oSwAACAAJ
| thesis_year = 1997
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| awards = American Society of Criminology's Vollmer Award (2021)
Criminology Fellow (2016) International Association of Chiefs of Police's Research Excellence (2011)
Department of Justice's Community Partnerships (2009)
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Research
Braga’s research focuses on enhancing fairness and effectiveness in policing. With colleagues, he has completed randomized controlled trials testing the impacts of deploying body worn cameras on police officers in Boston,{{Cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Barao|first2=Lisa M.|last3=Zimmerman|first3=Gregory M.|last4=Douglas|first4=Stephen|last5=Sheppard|first5=Keller|date=2020-12-01|title=Measuring the Direct and Spillover Effects of Body Worn Cameras on the Civility of Police–Citizen Encounters and Police Work Activities|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-019-09434-9|journal=Journal of Quantitative Criminology|language=en|volume=36|issue=4|pages=851–876|doi=10.1007/s10940-019-09434-9|s2cid=210367827|issn=1573-7799|url-access=subscription}} Las Vegas,{{Cite journal|last1=Denise Rodriguez|last2=James R. Coldren, Jr.|last3=William H. Sousa|last4=Anthony A. Braga|date=2018-01-01|title=The Effects of Body-Worn Cameras on Police Activity and Police-Citizen Encounters: A Randomized Controlled Trial|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol108/iss3/3|journal=Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology|volume=108|issue=3|pages=511}} and New York City.{{Cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=MacDonald|first2=John M.|last3=McCabe|first3=James|title=Body-worn cameras, lawful police stops, and NYPD officer compliance: A cluster randomized controlled trial*|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9125.12293|journal=Criminology|year=2021|volume=60|pages=124–158|language=en|doi=10.1111/1745-9125.12293|s2cid=244138447|issn=1745-9125|url-access=subscription}} These studies generally suggest that the placement of body cameras improve the civility of police-citizen encounters. He has also conducted randomized experiments showing that procedurally-just police encounters can improve civilian perceptions of police legitimacy.{{Cite journal|last1=Sahin|first1=Nusret|last2=Braga|first2=Anthony A.|last3=Apel|first3=Robert|last4=Brunson|first4=Rod K.|date=2017-12-01|title=The Impact of Procedurally-Just Policing on Citizen Perceptions of Police During Traffic Stops: The Adana Randomized Controlled Trial|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-016-9308-7|journal=Journal of Quantitative Criminology|language=en|volume=33|issue=4|pages=701–726|doi=10.1007/s10940-016-9308-7|s2cid=148507409|issn=1573-7799|url-access=subscription}} Finally, he has completed descriptive research studies examining extralegal factors associated with racial disparities in police contacts with civilians.{{Cite journal|last1=Fagan|first1=Jeffrey|last2=Braga|first2=Anthony|last3=Brunson|first3=Rod|last4=Pattavina|first4=April|date=2016-01-01|title=Stops and Stares: Street Stops, Surveillance, and Race in the New Policing|url=https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ulj/vol43/iss3/3|journal=Fordham Urban Law Journal|volume=43|issue=3|pages=539}}
His research has examined the stability and concentration of crime at small hot spot locations in cities. For instance, he led a study showing that 74 percent of shootings were persistently concentrated in just 5 percent of street blocks over a twenty-nine-year period in Boston.{{Cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Papachristos|first2=Andrew V.|last3=Hureau|first3=David M.|date=2010-03-01|title=The Concentration and Stability of Gun Violence at Micro Places in Boston, 1980–2008|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-009-9082-x|journal=Journal of Quantitative Criminology|language=en|volume=26|issue=1|pages=33–53|doi=10.1007/s10940-009-9082-x|s2cid=144197153|issn=1573-7799|url-access=subscription}} Braga has conducted a systematic review of hot spots policing experiments and quasi-experiments that shows concentrating police resource in crime hot spots can reduce crime without displacing crime to nearby locations.{{Cite web|title=Better evidence for a better world|url=https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/effects-of-hot-spots-policing-on-crime.html|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Campbell Collaboration|language=en-gb}} He also led a randomized controlled trial that found police efforts to modify the characteristics of crime places (greening vacant lots, securing abandoned buildings, improving lighting, and other situational remedies) generated stronger crime control gains relative to increased misdemeanor arrests.{{Cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Bond|first2=Brenda J.|date=2008|title=Policing Crime and Disorder Hot Spots: A Randomized Controlled Trial*|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2008.00124.x|journal=Criminology|language=en|volume=46|issue=3|pages=577–607|doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.2008.00124.x|issn=1745-9125|url-access=subscription}}
Braga has been influential in the development of focused deterrence strategies to control serious violence. These strategies attempt to reduce serious crime and violence by changing offender behavior through a blended set of law enforcement, community mobilization, and social service actions.{{Cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Kennedy|first2=David M.|date=2021|title=A Framework for Addressing Violence and Serious Crime: Focused Deterrence, Legitimacy, and Prevention|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/framework-for-addressing-violence-and-serious-crime/F82356B840A48359FE04C019FD5E357B|journal=Elements in Criminology|language=en|doi=10.1017/9781108938143|isbn=9781108938143|s2cid=233695216|url-access=subscription}} He was part of the Boston Gun Project working group that developed the well-known Operation Ceasefire strategy in the 1990s{{Cite journal|last1=BRAGA|first1=ANTHONY A.|last2=KENNEDY|first2=DAVID M.|last3=WARING|first3=ELIN J.|last4=PIEHL|first4=ANNE MORRISON|date=2001-08-01|title=Problem-Oriented Policing, Deterrence, and Youth Violence: An Evaluation of Boston's Operation Ceasefire|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427801038003001|journal=Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency|language=en|volume=38|issue=3|pages=195–225|doi=10.1177/0022427801038003001|s2cid=1218757|issn=0022-4278|url-access=subscription}} and worked with the Boston Police Department to implement a reinvigorated Ceasefire program in the mid-2000s.{{Cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Hureau|first2=David M.|last3=Papachristos|first3=Andrew V.|date=2014-03-01|title=Deterring Gang-Involved Gun Violence: Measuring the Impact of Boston's Operation Ceasefire on Street Gang Behavior|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-013-9198-x|journal=Journal of Quantitative Criminology|language=en|volume=30|issue=1|pages=113–139|doi=10.1007/s10940-013-9198-x|s2cid=143579620|issn=1573-7799|url-access=subscription}} Braga completed a systematic review of controlled evaluations that suggest focused deterrence programs reduce crime, but the review noted the rigor of focused deterrence evaluations needs to be improved.{{Cite web|title=Better evidence for a better world|url=https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/focused-deterrence-strategies-effects-on-crime.html|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Campbell Collaboration|language=en-gb}} Braga has also conducted studies on illegal gun trafficking in Boston,{{Cite journal|last1=Hureau|first1=David M.|last2=Braga|first2=Anthony A.|date=2018|title=The Trade in Tools: The Market for Illicit Guns in High-Risk Networks|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9125.12187|journal=Criminology|language=en|volume=56|issue=3|pages=510–545|doi=10.1111/1745-9125.12187|s2cid=150152701|issn=1745-9125|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}} Chicago,{{Cite journal|last1=Cook|first1=Philip J.|last2=Ludwig|first2=Jens|last3=Venkatesh|first3=Sudhir|last4=Braga|first4=Anthony A.|date=2007|title=Underground Gun Markets*|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02098.x|journal=The Economic Journal|language=en|volume=117|issue=524|pages=F588–F618|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02098.x|s2cid=44465708|issn=1468-0297|url-access=subscription}} and New York City.{{Cite journal|last1=Braga|first1=Anthony A.|last2=Brunson|first2=Rod K.|last3=Cook|first3=Philip J.|last4=Turchan|first4=Brandon|last5=Wade|first5=Brian|date=2021|title=Underground Gun Markets and the Flow of Illegal Guns into the Bronx and Brooklyn: A Mixed Methods Analysis|url=https://journals.scholarsportal.info/details/10993460/v98i0005/596_ugmatfabamma.xml|journal=Journal of Urban Health|volume=98|issue=5|pages=596–608|doi=10.1007/s11524-020-00477-z|pmid=32888157|pmc=8566688|issn=1099-3460}} These studies generally show that high-risk people, such as gang members and drug sellers, acquire guns through illegal diversions from legal firearms commerce.
Honors and awards
Anthony Braga is a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology{{Cite web|title=ASC Fellows|url=https://asc41.com/about-asc/awards/asc-fellows/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=The American Society of Criminology|language=en-US}} and the 2021 recipient of its August Vollmer Award{{Cite web|title=August Vollmer Award Recipients|url=https://asc41.com/about-asc/awards/august-vollmer-award-recipients/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=The American Society of Criminology|language=en-US}} recognizing outstanding contributions to the field of criminal justice. He is also a past President and Fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology{{Cite web|title=What's AEC|url=https://www.experimentalcrim.org/what-s-aec|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304094544/https://www.experimentalcrim.org/what-s-aec|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 4, 2021|access-date=2022-01-03|website=DECAEC|language=en}} and the 2014 recipient its Joan McCord Award{{Cite web|title=DEC and AEC Past Awards|url=https://www.experimentalcrim.org/dec-and-aec-past-awards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304094001/https://www.experimentalcrim.org/dec-and-aec-past-awards|url-status=usurped|archive-date=March 4, 2021|access-date=2022-01-03|website=DECAEC|language=en}} recognizing his contributions to the advancement of experimental criminology. Beyond academic recognition, he has also received multiple awards from practitioner organizations such as the 2011 International Association of Chiefs of Police Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award, 2010 U.S. Department of Justice Project Safe Neighborhood Award for Outstanding Service by a Research Partner, and the 2009 U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Community Partnerships and Public Safety.{{Cite web|date=July 2021|title=ANTHONY A. BRAGA CV|url=https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Anthony%20Braga%20CV%20July%202021.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103171147/https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/Anthony%20Braga%20CV%20July%202021.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-03 }}
References
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External links
- {{Google Scholar id|faGmUlIAAAAJ}}
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Category:Rutgers University faculty
Category:American criminologists
Category:University of Massachusetts Lowell alumni
Category:Rutgers University alumni
Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Category:Harvard Kennedy School faculty