Kaitlyn Hunter

Research Interests:

Kaitlyn’s primary research interest is in policing. Her dissertation explores the “reach” of legal cynicism (i.e., the perception that the law and law enforcement actors are illegitimate, unresponsive, and ill-equipped to keep communities safe) by investigating the impact of American police violence on police-community relationships in Canada. She is analyzing 911 call data and interviewing racialized community members and front-line police officers to answer two key research questions:

1. Did the police murder of George Floyd affect crime reporting in racialized neighbourhoods in a large and racially diverse Canadian city?

2. Has the collective memory of George Floyd’s murder (a) increased legal cynicism among racialized communities in this jurisdiction, and (b) impacted relations between racialized individuals and front-line officers?

The project contributes a clear picture of the measurable (i.e., material) impact of Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis (Minnesota) on crime reporting in another geographic context and explores whether and how legal cynicism stemming from Floyd’s murder flourishes independently and symbolically from crime reporting.

Select Publications

• Hunter, K. (2025). Predicting Police Contact: Exploring the Impact of Legal Cynicism on Residents’ Willingness to Contact the Police. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice, and Principles. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X251350967
• Urbanik, M., Maier, K., Greene, C., & Hunter, K. (2025). “What if I call them The Smurfs?” Comparing Marginalized People Who Use Drugs’ Experiences and Interactions with Auxiliary and Sworn Police Officers. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice. http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12614
• Hunter, K., Giwa, S., & Broll, R. (2024). Black and Blue: Deconstructing Defund the Police. Journal of Crime and Justice, 47(3), 324–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2024.2309220
• Maier, K., Greene, C., Hunter, K., & Urbanik, M. (2024). “The ones in red:” People Who Use Drugs’ Experiences of the Janus-faced Nature of Police Volunteerism. Policing and Society, 35(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/10439463.2024.2392818

Policy Reports

• Hunter, K. (2022). Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion: Recommendations to Increase Diversity and Inclusion on the City of Guelph's Accessibility Advisory Committee [Research Report]. Guelph Lab and Community Engaged Scholarship Institute. Guelph, Ontario. https://hdl.handle.net/10214/27449