Assistant Professor of Ethics and Public Policy, Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, and Assistant Director of the Rock Ethics Institute

(Fall 2025)

I am completing two books on policing, ethics, and racial justice.

(1) Protecting Life: The Ethics of Police Deadly Force

The idea that police should prioritize the protection of life enjoys broad support. Many police use-of-force policies endorse the principle. Yet high-profile incidents remind us that police too often fall short of this principle, using deadly force when it is unnecessary to protect life. The problem goes deeper than a few bad apples. Law, policy, and training entrench practices that lead to avoidable killings. The resulting harm hits marginalized groups the hardest, perpetuating injustice in society. Ultimately, how police should use deadly force is intertwined with questions of distributive justice. In Protecting Life, I develop a framework to evaluate police deadly force sensitive to concerns about systemic injustice raised by movements like Black Lives Matter. This study at the intersection of ethics and public policy challenges readers to rethink the state’s obligations to those most vulnerable to police violence—particularly, disadvantaged racial groups and persons with mental illness.

(2) Antiracist Policing (with Karin Martin)

Across a range of measures—from killings to arrests to traffic stops—policing’s harms fall disproportionately on Black Americans and other marginalized groups. But evidence also shows that some policing reduces violent crime. This effect especially benefits those, such as Black Americans, victimized by violence at higher rates. Black Americans find themselves in a catch-22: turn to police to reduce violent crime but bear the brunt of policing’s harms or rely less on police but face higher violent crime. An antiracist vision for public safety looks to stop putting people in this impossible spot. Neither police abolition nor minor reforms will get us there. We need a third way. Antiracist Policing charts the path forward with three complementary strategies: (1) reduce policing’s scope where it’s not necessary, (2) minimize policing’s harm where it’s necessary, and (3) design institutions conducive for police being partners in, rather than barriers to, antiracist work. This collaboration between an ethicist and social scientist weaves together theory and evidence to identify strategies that concretely improve public safety for those most harmed by the status quo.