Vera Institute of Justice

Drawing on her recent service as a member of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Professor Tracey Meares will connect the Task Force’s recommendations with her recent research on police reform and discuss the relevance of both in a world in which federal efforts to push police reform are likely to diminish.

Professor Meares is the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor at Yale Law School and has done important work, both academically and in practice, focusing on communities, police legitimacy, and legal policy. She has theorized about the role of police, particularly in urban areas, and has developed training models used across the country in cities as diverse as Chicago, Oakland, Minneapolis, Birmingham, Pittsburgh, and New York City.

Professor Meares has worked extensively with the federal government, having served on the Committee on Law and Justice, a National Research Council Standing Committee of the National Academy of Sciences from 2004–2011. Additionally, she has served on two National Research Council Review Committees: one to review research on police policy and practices and another to review the National Institute of Justice. In November of 2010, Meares was named by Attorney General Eric Holder to sit on the Department of Justice’s newly-created Science Advisory Board.