Megan B. Welsh

Finds that officers’ accounts excuse, justify, or otherwise negate the role of race in routine police work, yet officers’ thoughts and actions are based on racialized and, at times, dehumanizing narratives about people and communities of color.

Finds for criminalized people, particularly those who have been recently incarcerated, applying for and maintaining public assistance—cash aid and/or food assistance—is an immediate and crucial element of survival. Examines how criminalized clients are understood by welfare workers in one large, densely populated California county.

Examines changes to how community supervision (parole and probation) is administered in California under AB 109 / Public Safety Realignment, and particularly, how these changes have been experienced by women on each form of supervision.

Presents findings from an ongoing study of the use of police to manage the issue of street homelessness in downtown San Diego, California. Draws on data collected over the past two years through brief, structured interviews (n=195), focus groups (n=23), and in-depth, semi-structured interviews (n=20) with un-housed people about their experiences with law enforcement. Shows how un-housed people make sense of and attempt to maneuver within a system of policing that attempts to erase homelessness from the urban landscape and that consequently functions to further deepen the marginalization of this already vulnerable population.