Projects

Criminal Justice Professors Omeed Ilchi and Mike Johnson are examining quantitative survey data on social background variables and public perceptions of how effective police, prosecutors, and judges are at responding to crime. The data were generated by YouGov. The study examines how perceptions of criminal justice system effectiveness vary among citizens and will have implications for social policy and public education.

On October 7, 2024, before Hurricane Milton makes landfall in the Tampa Bay area, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issues a dire warning to affected citizens: “I can say without any dramatization whatsoever. If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you’re going to die.” While there is an extensive literature which focuses on the impact of climate change and/or natural disasters, there is a dearth of works on how population affects the risks of natural disasters.

As both the frequency and severity of storms and other natural events increase in recent years, it becomes even more imperative that we understand the how human activities contribute climate change and natural disasters. In a joint project, Political Science professor Yu Ouyang and Sophia Becker-Toro (PNW undergraduate student) analyze data on county-level risk of natural disasters from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Overall, the results contribute to our understanding of population migration dynamics, as well as the long-lasting impacts of natural disasters beyond immediate damages incurred.

What is the relationship between immigration and crime rates in the United States? Though myriad studies attempted to ascertain whether immigration impact crime rate, results of those analyses were mixed. Moreover, much of the research on this topic addresses their concern by analyzing the relationship between immigrants and crime on a national level and, consequently, few works investigate immigration and crime on a state-county level.

In a joint project, Political Science professor Yu Ouyang and Angel Carrillo (PNW undergraduate student) collect data on immigration population and crime rates in counties in Illinois and Indiana. Accounting for other county-level factors which may impact county crime rates, the results indicate that mixed findings in previous studies reflect, at least in part, the specific measures used in the analyses.

More broadly, the findings add to the understanding and help to shed light on the growing policy debate on immigration and crime.