This body of work investigates the causes and consequences of local police involvement in immigration enforcement, highlighting how institutional cooperation and public narratives reshape policing and deepen inequality.
Muchow, A. N. and T. Stanishevska. (2025). From headlines to handcuffs: Local news coverage of immigrant crime and Hispanic arrest. Justice Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2025.2550307
Local television news coverage of immigrant-perpetrated crime increases Hispanic arrest rates, linking media framing directly to enforcement outcomes.
Muchow, A. N. (2025). Media coverage and local cooperation in immigration enforcement. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 51(13): 3473–3500. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2384989
Local news coverage of immigration and crime increases sheriffs’ adoption of 287(g) agreements, demonstrating how media narratives can drive local participation in federal immigration enforcement.
Muchow, A. N. (2024). Creating a minority threat: Assessing the spillover effect of local immigrant detention on Hispanic arrests. Criminology, 62(2): 205–235. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12367
Leasing local jail space for immigrant detention increases low-level arrests of Hispanic residents, showing how institutional cooperation in immigration enforcement can spill over into policing practice.
Article discussed on the Criminology Academy podcast.
Muchow, A. N. (2024). Can community policing reduce the chilling effect of immigration enforcement on Latinx crime reporting? Evidence from Los Angeles. Crime & Delinquency, 70(6–7):1759–1782. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287221125385
Heightened awareness of immigration enforcement suppresses domestic violence reporting in Latino immigrant neighborhoods, but community policing initiatives can partially mitigate this chilling effect.
Muchow, A. N. and C. Amuedo-Dorantes. (2020). Immigration enforcement awareness and community engagement with police: Evidence from domestic violence calls in Los Angeles. Journal of Urban Economics, 117: 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2020.103253
Public awareness of immigration enforcement reduces calls for police service in predominantly Latino immigrant neighborhoods, illustrating how enforcement salience shapes help-seeking behavior in immigrant communities.
Work in this area investigates how external social and institutional pressures shape police behavior, often redefining the scope of policing and altering patterns of contact in marginalized communities.
Muchow, A. N. and A. Laurito. (2025). Mental health clinic closures and criminal justice contact in Chicago. Criminology & Public Policy, 24(1): 65–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12683
The closure of public mental health clinics in Chicago increased police-initiated mental health transports—but not arrests—highlighting how gaps in the mental health safety net may reposition law enforcement as default crisis responders in underserved neighborhoods.
Muchow, A. N., McCarty, W. P., Burke, P., and R. Moreno. (2023). Depolicing in Chicago: Assessing the quantity and quality of policing after the fatal police shooting of Laquan McDonald. Justice Quarterly, 40(7): 975–998. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2023.2232007
The release of video footage documenting fatal police violence produced short-term, targeted reductions in enforcement activity, particularly in Black communities most affected by police use of force.
Muchow, A. N. (2023). Community-oriented policing and violent crime: Evidence from the Los Angeles Community Safety Partnership. Police Quarterly, 26(4): 545–572. https://doi.org/10.1177/10986111231162353
Early implementation of a targeted community policing program in Los Angeles reduced violent crime, while later expansions produced little change, highlighting substantial variation in program effects across implementation waves and the importance of local context.