Steve Herbert

About

Steve Herbert is the Mark Torrance Professor of Law, Societies, and Justice at the University of Washington. He is trained as a geographer with a PhD from UCLA obtained in 1995. His research primarily explores the relationship between the exercise of power and the control of space, with a particular focus on urban police departments. Herbert has conducted extensive ethnographic fieldwork with the Los Angeles and Seattle Police Departments, which has resulted in three books: 'Policing Space: Territoriality and the Los Angeles Police Department,' 'Citizens, Cops, and Power: Recognizing the Limits to Community,' and 'Banished: The New Social Control in Urban America,' co-authored with Katherine Beckett. His scholarly work has been published in leading journals across disciplines such as Geography, Socio-Legal Studies, and Criminology. More recently, his research has centered on the realities of life-sentenced prisoners, culminating in his book 'Too Easy to Keep: Life-Sentenced Prisoners and the Future of Mass Incarceration,' inspired by his prison-based educational efforts, including courses and book clubs in various prisons. Herbert also created the 2021 podcast series 'Making Amends,' which tells the stories of incarcerated men seeking to atone for their past mistakes. He teaches courses including 'Introduction to Law, Societies, and Justice,' 'Punishment: Theory and Practice,' and 'Juvenile Parole Project,' and was honored with the UW Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Law
• Social Science
• Biology
• Geography
• Psychology
• Criminology
• Engineering

Selected publications

• Policing Social Marginality: Contrasting Approaches

  Law & Social Inquiry · 2017-02-10 · 93 citations

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  Urban police officers concentrate much attention on individuals who experience various forms of inequality. Some police tactics that address the socially marginal garner public concern, especially when violence occurs. Solutions to such police-community tensions are elusive, in part because police cannot meaningfully reduce inequality. Yet there are better and worse ways to police the impoverished, and we use this article to contrast three general approaches: aggressive patrol, coercive benevole…

  PublisherDOI

• Policing Los Angeles: Race, Resistance, and the Rise of the Lapd

  Journal of American History · 2019-12-19 · 41 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• One/ Accountability

  2017-01-01 · 32 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
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• Too Easy to Keep

  2019-01-08 · 30 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding

  “Some guys don’t break any rules. They do their jobs, they go to school, they don’t commit any infractions, they keep their cells clean and tidy, and they follow the rules. And usually those are our LWOPs [life without parole]. They’re usually our easiest keepers.” Too Easy to Keep directs much-needed attention toward a neglected group of American prisoners—the large and growing population of inmates serving life sentences. Drawing on extensive interviews with lifers and with prison staff, Too E…

  PublisherDOI

• Policing European metropolises: the politics of security in city-regions

  Policing & Society · 2018-10-10 · 27 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
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Frequent coauthors

• Katherine Beckett

  University of Washington

  17 shared

• Anita M. Waters

  Denison University

  9 shared

• Chris Giacomantonio

  Dalhousie University

  9 shared

• Peter O. Müller

  Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

  3 shared

• Antonius C. G. M. Robben

  Utrecht University

  3 shared

• Linda McDowell

  2 shared

• Dydia DeLyser

  California State University, Fullerton

  2 shared

• John Carr

  UNSW Sydney

  2 shared

Labs

• Law, Societies & JusticePI

Education

• Ph.D., Geography

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1995

Awards & honors

• UW Distinguished Teaching Award (2009)

Similar researchers at University of Washington

• Angelina Godoyh-14
• Jamie Mayerfeldh-9