Franklin Zimring quoted in San Jose Mercury News, May 26, 2015
UC Berkeley Professor Frank Zimring, who has written books about America’s crime rate, says ascertaining the root causes of crime is more complicated than many believe. He looked at declining crime rates in the 1990s, for instance, and determined that there was “practically nothing” that could be used to explain crime’s decline during that era. “I ended up calling it ‘criminological astrology,’” Zimring said.
Franklin Zimring quoted in San Jose Mercury News, May 20, 2015
“It is precisely the sort of ironic set of incentives and disincentives that are created by the patchwork nature of medical coverage that we have,” Zimring said. “In the general society, the care that is provided is considerably less generous.”
Franklin Zimring quoted in The New York Times, May 4, 2015
“If New Hampshire wanted to abolish the death penalty, Nebraska could set a terrific precedent,” said Frank Zimring. … “But it probably wouldn’t work in Texas or Missouri.” Nebraska’s debate shows the topic no longer is a “third rail” issue among conservatives, Zimring said.
Franklin Zimring and Barry Krisberg cited in UT San Diego, April 24, 2015
Zimring: Because of prison realignment (to county jails) and other policies in response to federal prison overcrowding orders, California has undertaken “a pretty substantial experiment in decarceration,” he added, and yet crime just keeps falling.
Krisberg says many Republicans—typically leaders of the law-and-order coalition—now often back changes that help reduce costs and incarceration rates, even as some Democrats oppose them because of their closeness to the prison guards and police unions.
Franklin Zimring quoted in Los Angeles Times, April 9, 2015
“You’ve got a very extreme case,” said Franklin Zimring. … “There are 500 killings by police in the U.S. each year. How many of them are realistic candidates for the criminal conviction of officers? They would be on the fingers of one hand…. This may very well be the one.”
Franklin Zimring writes for San Francisco Chronicle, February 27, 2015
The failure to collect and audit accurate information on killings by the police is a major scandal. 2015 should be the year when effective reporting of police use of fatal force becomes a practical reality. This will help reveal the high volume of chronic government violence that otherwise is disregarded as just the way things are.
Franklin Zimring quoted in Daily Journal (registration required), February 18, 2015
A prosecutor “works with police and depends upon them,” Zimring said. Even with Mitchell’s bill blocking a prosecutor from using a grand jury to escape accountability for a decision, “all of the problems I mentioned of both prosecutorial power and a high burden of proof” still work to protect police, he said.
Franklin Zimring quoted in San Francisco Gate, January 18, 2015
“They’re good numbers — they’re wonderful news in terms of feeling less at risk,” Zimring said. “They are not clearly indicating that something particular worked. The person who reads Bay Area homicide numbers should be a cheerful agnostic.”
Franklin Zimring interviewed on KQED, January 13, 2015
The records that we keep at the federal level of national patterns in police use of deadly force are not audited; they’re essentially voluntary. In terms of the police, they turn in this data when they want to—and it’s very uncarefully classified. As far as the Federal Bureau of Investigation is concerned, every killing by a police officer in uniform in the United States is presumably the justifiable killing of a felon.
Franklin Zimring quoted in The New York Times, January 13, 2015
“Canada, with practically none of the policy changes we point to here, had a comparable decline in crime over the same period,” said Franklin E. Zimring. … He described the quest for an explanation as “criminological astrology.”