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Samantha Jones Simon

  • Assistant Professor, School of Government and Public Policy
  • Member of the Graduate Faculty
Contact
  • (520) 621-7600
  • Social Sciences, Rm. 315
  • Tucson, AZ 85721
  • sjsimon@arizona.edu
  • Bio
  • Interests
  • Courses
  • Scholarly Contributions

Awards

  • American Society of Criminology Gene Carte Student Paper Award
    • American Society of Criminology, Fall 2020
  • James E. Blackwell Graduate Student Paper Award in Racial and Ethnic Minorities
    • American Sociological Association, Summer 2019

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Courses

2025-26 Courses

  • Policing & Society
    PA 339 (Fall 2025)
  • Policing & Society
    SOC 339 (Fall 2025)
  • Women in the Justice System
    PA 441 (Fall 2025)

2024-25 Courses

  • Women in the Justice System
    PA 441 (Summer I 2025)
  • Women in the Justice System
    PA 441 (Spring 2025)
  • Policing & Society
    PA 339 (Fall 2024)
  • Policing & Society
    SOC 339 (Fall 2024)
  • Women in the Justice System
    PA 441 (Fall 2024)

2023-24 Courses

  • Women in the Justice System
    PA 441 (Summer I 2024)
  • Policing & Society
    PA 339 (Spring 2024)
  • Policing & Society
    SOC 339 (Spring 2024)
  • Women in the Justice System
    PA 441 (Spring 2024)
  • Policing & Society
    PA 339 (Fall 2023)
  • Policing & Society
    SOC 339 (Fall 2023)

Related Links

UA Course Catalog

Scholarly Contributions

Books

  • Simon, S. J. (2024). Before the Badge: How Academy Training Shapes Police Violence. New York: NYU Press.
    More info
    Michael Brown. Philando Castile. George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. As the names of those killed by the police became cemented into public memory, the American public took to the streets in unprecedented numbers to mourn, organize, and demand changes to the current system of policing. In response, police departments across the country committed themselves to change, pledging to hire more women and people of color, incorporate diversity training, and instruct officers to verbally de-escalate interactions with the public.These reform efforts tend to rely on a “bad apple” argument, focusing the nature and scope of the problem on the behavior of specific individuals and rarely considering the broader organizational process that determines who is allowed to patrol the public and how they learn to do their jobs. In Before the Badge, Samantha J. Simon provides a firsthand look into how police officers are selected and trained, describing every stage of the process, including recruitment, classroom instruction, and tactical training.Simon spent a year at police academies participating in the training alongside cadets, giving her a visceral, hands-on understanding of how police training operates. Using rich and detailed examples, she reveals that the process does more than test a cadet’s physical or intellectual abilities. Instead, it socializes cadets into a system of state violence. As training progresses, cadets are expected to see themselves as warriors and to view Black and Latino/a members of the public as their enemies. Cadets who cannot or will not uphold this approach end up washing out. In Before the Badge, Simon explains how this training creates a context in which patterns of police violence persist and implores readers to re-envision the future of policing in the United States.

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