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PATRICK G. WATSON
Sociologist of Crime and Sociolegal Studies
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How do we make sense of the world of criminal justice?
At its core, the justice system is an intensely democratic institution. The police and the courts serve at the behest of the people, and gain their legitimacy from the people. But sometimes decisions are made in the justice system that don't seem to make sense.
My research attends to how criminal justice occurs, looking at how evidence, testimony, and expertise blend to help the public come to terms with criminal events. That has led me to study how video evidence is used in court when police officers are accused in on-duty use of force incidents, and how "officer reasonableness" is determined in use-of-force incidents.
My objective is to remind the people that we get a say in how we are policed, and we get the justice system we demand. My hope is that explaining how courts or investigators make decisions will improve public accountability and put justice in the hands of the people.
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RESEARCH PROJECTS
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SELECT ARTICLES & PUBLICATIONS
2022
RISK AND TRUST: ETHNOMETHOODOLOGICAL ORIENTATIONS TO RISK THEORIZING
Dean Curran (ed) The Handbook of Risk and Inequalities (Elgar)
2022
THE ETHNOMETHODS OF LAW AND ORDER: STUDYING COPS AND COURTS
The Routledge Handbook of Ethnomethodology
2021
HANDLING VIDEO OF [POLICE] VIOLENCE: THEORETICAL VERSUS PRACTICAL ANALYSES (WITH ALBERT J. MEEHAN)
2021
LES CAMERAS PORTATIVES UTILISEES PAR LES FORCES POLICIERES : SUPPOSITIONS ET IMPLICATIONS (WITH ERICK LAMMING AND CHRISTOPHER SCHNEIDER
2018
THE DOCUMENTARY METHOD OF [VIDEO] INTERPRETATION: A PARADOXICAL VERDICT IN A POLICE-INVOLVED SHOOTING AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR UNDERSTANDING CRIME ON CAMERA
2018
“COMMON SENSE GEOGRAPHY” AND THE ELECTED OFFICIAL: TECHNICAL EVIDENCE AND CONCEPTIONS OF ‘TRUST’ IN TORONTO’S GARDINER EXPRESSWAY DECISION
2013
INTERPRETIVE ASYMMETRY, RETROSPECTIVE INQUIRY AND THE EXPLICATION OF ACTION IN AN INCIDENT OF FRIENDLY FIRE
2012
WAR-MAKING AND SENSE-MAKING: SOME TECHNICAL REFLECTIONS ON AN INSTANCE OF ‘FRIENDLY FIRE’ (WITH MICHAEL MAIR, CHRISTOPHER ELSEY AND PAUL V. SMITH)
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