One of the most controversial-and least understood-issues in the area of sexual violence is the prevalence of false reports of rape. Estimates of the rate of false reports vary widely, which reflects differences in way false reports are defined and in the methods that researchers use to identify them. We address this issue using a mixed methods approach that incorporates quantitative and qualitative data on sexual assault cases that were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 2008 and qualitative data from interviews with LAPD detectives assigned to investigate reports of sexual assault. We found that the LAPD was clearing cases as unfounded appropriately most, but not all, of the time and we estimated that the rate of false reports among cases reported to the LAPD was 4.5 percent. We also found that although complainant recantation was the strongest predictor of the unfounding decision, other factors indicative of the seriousness of the incident and the credibility of the victim also played a role. We interpret these findings using an integrated theoretical perspective that incorporates both Black's sociological theory of law and Steffensmeier, Ulmer, and Kramer's focal concerns perspective.

This study explores the relationship between mental health and place at microgeographic units of analysis. We examine self-reported symptomology for depression and PTSD for 2,724 survey respondents interviewed in three types of randomly selected street segments: violent crime hot spots, cool spots, and cold spots. We find that the mean symptomology score is 61% higher for depression in violent crime hot spots than cold spots, and 85% higher for PTSD. Overall, we estimate that 14.8% of residents of violent crime hot spots meet thresholds for moderate depression or a diagnosis of PTSD. This can be compared to only 6.5% of residents at the cold spots. Using PSM and weighted negative binomial regression approaches we show that observable selection factors are not responsible for the relationships identified. Examining geographic influences, we find an important area effect of violent crime for both mental health measures, and an additional impact of the specific street of residence for PTSD.

Research Summary Taking advantage of a large residential survey that was ongoing in Baltimore, Maryland, during the riots surrounding the death of Freddie Gray in 2015, in this study, we examined changes in attitudes of procedural justice and police legitimacy before and after the events occurred. We found little change in measures of obligation to obey the law, trustworthiness of the police, and procedural justice among residents of Baltimore. Policy Implications The police are facing a challenging period of turmoil and reform as incidents of police use of force against minorities continue to draw national attention. Our findings suggest, however, that these macro‐level events may have little immediate impact on views of police legitimacy and procedural justice, as contrasted with longer term historical relationships between the police and the public. We argue that more research is needed to understand broader societal factors that shape people's perceptions of the police as law enforcement and policy makers search for policies and programs to build trust with minority communities.

Similar to concentrations of crime, mental health calls have been found to concentrate at a small number of places, but few have considered the context of places where mental health calls occur. The current study examines the influence of the physical and social context of street segments, particularly the role of service providers, land use features of the street and nearby area, and characteristics of residents on the likelihood of a mental health crisis call to the police occurring on the street. The findings demonstrate that the social context, such as offending and drug use among residents, levels of social cohesion and community involvement, and drug and violent crime influenced the occurrence of mental health crisis calls. Findings from this study make theoretical and practical contributions to a number of disciplines by improving our understanding of where mental health crisis calls occur and why they are found at specific places.