Criminal Justice Authority Can Discuss Sonya Massey Case, Mass. POST Commission
Criminal justice expert Jack Lu is available as a source for reporters covering policing, crime and the court system.
07/25/2024
Media Contacts: Emily Gowdey-Backus and Nancy Cicco
The case of Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old Black woman fatally shot in her Illinois home by a law enforcement officer July 6 is the latest tragic example of why policing needs to be overhauled, according to a UMass Lowell expert available for interviews.
Massey was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson after he and a second officer responded to Massey’s 911 call for assistance. Illinois State Police this week released bodycam footage of the incident that has sparked outrage and an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. Grayson has been indicted and has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, among other charges.
“It is not a question of weeding out a few bad apples,” said UMass Lowell’s Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts Superior Court judge and authority on U.S. criminal and civil legal systems and sentencing. “This case illustrates the cancer eating at American policing, which is widespread and afflicts the majority of U.S. police departments.”
The remedies to improve policing and restore faith in law enforcement should be tailored to individual communities, police agencies and jurisdictions, as has begun to happen in Massachusetts with the state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. However, Lu said, some overarching themes apply. He recommends:
- Increasing pay, particularly for entry-level recruits required to carry a gun
- Increasing education and experience-based hiring requirements that prioritize applicants with non-military and non-policing backgrounds
- Developing a culture of officers as helpers as opposed to strictly enforcers
Once the job pays well, you can select, for example, people with a master’s degree in social work, or candidates with mental health or nursing or health care experience. This increases the chances of a work-culture shift from an environment that solely prioritizes enforcement to one focused more on helping,” he said.
Lu is a faculty member in UMass Lowell’s School of Criminology and Justice Studies where his work focuses on the confluence of sentencing and criminal justice and social science, race and socioeconomics.
To arrange an interview with Lu, contact Emily Gowdey-Backus or Nancy Cicco.