Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence | Samantha J. Simon

Join us for the second seminar of the 2024-25 CrimSL Speaker Series on Wednesday, October 23, 2024!

Professor Samantha J. Simon of the School of Government & Public Policy and the School of Sociology at the University of Arizona will present "Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence." 

This is a free event, however, registration is required.

Prior to the seminar, join us for a light lunch from noon to 12:30 pm in the Centre Lounge. Please indicate your lunch RSVP for catering purposes when you register.

Abstract

In this talk, Dr. Samantha Simon will be discussing her new book, titled Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence. In the book, Simon draws on 600 hours of ethnographic field work at four municipal police academies and 40 in-depth interviews with officers and cadets to explain how new cadets in the United States are socialized into engaging in state-sanctioned violence. In the talk, she will turn the attention away from explanations of police violence that point to officers’ individual racial biases, the purported necessity of using force in high-crime areas, or inadequate de-escalation training, to instead highlight how police hiring and training practices contribute to racist patterns in police violence.

About Professor Samantha J. Simon

Samantha Simon is an Assistant Professor in the School of Government and Public Policy and the School of Sociology at the University of Arizona. Using ethnographic and qualitative methods, her research focuses on violence, gender, race, and organizational inequality. Her book – titled Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence (NYU Press, 2024) – is based on one year of ethnographic field work at four police training academies. In her book, she examines how the hiring and training at police academies emphasizes the use of violence, focusing on the ways that gender and race inform these processes.

Simon's research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, and the American Association for University Women, among others. Her work has been published in top-tier peer-reviewed journals, including in Social Problems, Law & Society Review, Gender & Society, Qualitative Sociology, and Gender, Work & Organization. She has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Accessibility

Please note that our Centre Lounge and CG 265 seminar room are on the second floor of the Canadiana Gallery building, with stair access only as there is no elevator. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your participation in this session, please email crimsl.communications@utoronto.ca and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

Notice of photography and videography

Photography, audio and video recording may occur throughout this event. Therefore, by attending, you hereby authorize the University of Toronto to take your photograph, video and/or record your voice and grant the university all rights to these sounds, still or moving images in any medium for educational, promotional, marketing, advertising or other such purposes that support the mission of the university. If you do not consent to this, please speak with a university representative upon your arrival.

Health & Safety

We are following health and safety measures outlined by the University of Toronto and the Government of Ontario. Should there be changes in protocols related to health and safety of our guests and community, registrants will be advised.