PATRICK G. WATSON
Sociologist of Crime and Sociolegal Studies
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.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
CHARTING THE "REASONABLE OFFICER"
This project builds out from Police-Involved Shootings. Most incidents (over 90%) where police use violent force do not result in criminal charges - a police officer will be found to have acted "reasonably" during the investigative stage. In the province of Ontario, when a police officer uses violent force resulting in serious injury or death, the incident is investigated by the SIU. My team is studying those decisions to better understand how "officer reasonableness" is decided. We are also interviewing people affected by police violence, and police officers who have been investigated by the SIU to get their perspectives on civilian police oversight in Ontario.
My team has partnered with researchers from Oakland University, Michigan and the University of California Santa Barbara who are working on similar studies. Our goal is to gain broad understanding of what makes officers "reasonable" when they resort to violent or lethal force in both Canada and the United States.
This project is funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada under the Partnership Develop program.
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