“FUND that sh**!” - A Criminologist's Unfiltered Take on Policing, Crime, & Victims

On this episode of Holding the Line, Sean Kennedy sits down with Professor Laura Huey of the University of Western Ontario, a criminologist and policing researcher whose path into the field began not through law enforcement, but through personal experience with victimization and growing up in a family where police were frequently called.Huey has spent decades studying policing and victimization in marginalized communities, including extensive work in Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Skid Row. She brings a perspective that challenges some of the conventional assumptions about crime, policing and criminal justice.Please enjoy this episode and admire Sean’s restraint not making too many Canadian jokes.FOLLOW Dr. Huey on X: https://x.com/ProfLauraHueyHer book The Wicked Problems of Police Reform in Canada: https://a.co/d/0dFBJ107Her book Evidence Based Policing: An Introduction: https://www.amazon.com/Evidence-based-policing-Ren%C3%A9e-Mitchell-ebook/dp/B07KY1R91F?ref_=ast_author_mpbThe conversation explores:Why some of the people most vulnerable to violent victimization are also the least likely to report crimes.What Laura learned from working in Skid Row and other marginalized communities.The impossible demands placed on police in communities struggling with addiction, mental illness, homelessness and crime.Whether diversion programs and other alternative approaches to policing actually work—and why Huey is skeptical of poorly designed evaluations.How governments can create incentives for organizations to evaluate their own programs.The difference between funding temporary programs and investing in permanent solutions to problems like addiction and mental illness.The complicated relationship between homelessness, mental illness, addiction and victimization.Why “compassion” without meaningful intervention can sometimes leave vulnerable people trapped in cycles of addiction, crime and victimization.Why victims don't report crimes—and what happens when people lose confidence that the justice system will protect them.How underfunding police, courts and other parts of the criminal justice system ultimately affects victims.The differences between the Canadian and American approaches to criminal justice.Huey's answer to that final question is straightforward: FUND the criminal justice system—and fund independent research to make sure we're actually getting what we're paying for.This is a wide-ranging conversation about policing, public safety, victims and the difficult problems that governments often prefer not to confront. For a Holding the Line first, we're marking this episode EXPLICIT since Dr. Huey has an admittedly filthy mouth. Listener discretion is advised.