Professor Deborah Ramirez on Police Accountability

National Media Look to Professor Deborah Ramirez for Expert Comments on Police Accountability

Professor Deborah Ramirez is a criminal justice expert and a long-time advocate for policy changes in the criminal justice system. She teaches criminal justice for first year students, along with advanced courses in criminal procedure and post-9/11 civil rights vis-à-vis counter-terrorism. She also seeks to actively engage the student body in topics relating to criminal law in additional projects, including assistance to Northeastern’s Criminal Justice Society, along with presentations on extradition in conjunction with Northeastern’s first-year social justice projects in the Legal Skills in Social Context program. Beyond this, she works extensively with Northeastern’s Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA). Professor Ramirez frequently works with academia, law enforcement, and community leaders in the US and Europe to implement community-partnership based counter-terrorism programs. Her belief is that we will only truly be safe from terrorist attacks when law enforcement adopts a strategy focused on building trust and strengthening relationships with the American Muslim, Arab and Sikh communities. Her written work includes a “Promising Practices Guide” on how to develop partnerships between law enforcement and these communities.

Recent Articles and Press

• “How To Prevent What Happened to Tyre Nichols From Happening in the Future," Northeastern Global News (January 31, 2023).
• “Massachusetts Should Require Gun Liability Insurance,” The Boston Globe (June 29, 2022).
• “How to Prevent Cops from Killing: Weaken Unions and Make Police Pay for Misconduct,” USA Today (June 25, 2022).
• “SJC Takes Big Step Backward on Racial Justice,” CommonWealth (February 12, 2022) (co-author).
• “3 Changes That Mayor Wu and Boston’s Next Police Commissioner Must Make,” Cognoscenti (January 26, 2022).
• “Policing the Police: A Roadmap to Police Accountability Using Professional Liability Insurance,” 73 Rutgers Law Review 307 (2021) (co-author).
• Video: “Why Rachael Rollins’ Confirmation Was So Divisive,” CBS Boston (December 8, 2021).
• “NH Police Department Under Fire for Listing ‘Qualified Immunity’ as Job Perk in Recruitment Post,” 7News Boston (August 4, 2021).
• “Should Police Pay For Their Own Liability Insurance? This Law Professor Thinks So,” Wisconsin Public Radio (May 25, 2021).
• “What will Acting Mayor Kim Janey do about Boston police?,” The Boston Globe (May 2, 2021).
• “How Liability Insurance Could Stop Police Brutality,” CBC Radio (April 26, 2021).
• Special Report on the Trial of former Police Office Derek Chauvin, ABC News (April 7, 2021).
• “Chauvin’s Lawyer Asked a Black Witness About Anger, Conjuring Centuries-Old Tropes, Scholars Say,” The Washington Post (March 30, 2021).
• “Mandatory Professional Liability Insurance for California Police? Lawmakers Are Interested,” Mission Local (December 18, 2020).
• “Police Release ‘Traumatic’ and ‘Graphic’ Video of Walter Wallace,” The Washington Post (November 4, 2020).
• “Can Requiring Police Professional Insurance Tame Police Misconduct?,” Criminal Injustice (August 25, 2020).
• “How Qualified Immunity Became the Sticking Point in Mass. Police Reform Debates,” WBUR News (July 30, 2020).
• “‘We Have to Move to Place Where Non-Serious, Non-Violent, Non-Dangerous Actions Do Not Involve Police Interaction,’” Northeastern News (July 23, 2020).
• “Professor Calls For Liability Insurance For Cops To Help Prevent Misconduct,” WGBH News Greater Boston with Jim Braude (July 15, 2020).
  
• “New York Legislators Introduce Bill to Require Liability Insurance for Police,” ABC News (July 13, 2020).
• “Police Brutality Calls for Police Accountability,” ABC's Good Morning America (July 10, 2020).
  
• “Mandatory Professional Liability for Police Officers: How Insurance Can Step Up According to This Criminal Law Scholar,” Risk & Insurance (June 29, 2020).
• “Ramirez on Reforming the Police Through Liability Insurance,” TortsProf Blog (June 18, 2020).
  

• “The Dirty Secret Behind Qualified Immunity for Police,” The Boston Globe (June 10, 2020) (co-author).
• “Liability Insurance Could Hold 'Reckless' Police Officers Accountable,” NPR's All Things Considered (June 7, 2020).
• “The PowerPLAY Looks At America Under Siege: Policing The Police with Professor Deborah Ramirez,” The PowerPLAY Podcast (June 3, 2020).
• “Policing the Police: Could Mandatory Professional Liability Insurance for Officers Provide a New Accountability Model?,” 45 American Journal of Criminal Law; Austin 407 (2019) (co-author).
• “Policing Testimony from Professor Deborah Ramirez and Sue Rahr,” C-SPAN (May 19, 2015).
  Professor Deborah Ramirez outlines her proposed roadmap to justice before the House Judiciary Committee.