The killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020 brought national attention to no-knock search warrants, a policing practice that allows law enforcement officers to enter premises unannounced. Despite being among the most dangerous and aggressive policing tactics, no-knock search warrants and forceful residential police raids remain under-researched. Building on the literature on the social costs of aggressive policing, this talk will present findings from a multi-city study analyzing all forceful residential search warrants executed over a decade by three large US urban police departments. Discussion will include evidence of racial and ethnic gaps in neighborhood-level exposure to forceful residential search warrants, then focus on the community-level mental health effects of such policing practice. Findings contribute to a growing body of literature highlighting the unintended and adverse consequences of aggressive policing in communities of color and among disadvantaged populations.
The Prevalence and Mental Health Impacts of Militarized Policing in American Cities
Gerard Torrats-Espinosa, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Columbia University
8417 William H. Sewell Social Sciences Building
@ 12:15 pm
https://www.irp.wisc.edu/2025-spring-irp-seminar-calendar/