Confronting the “200-Pound Alligator:” Anti-Racist Community-Engaged Research Addressing Police-Inflicted Trauma on the Black Community

This paper focuses on a multi-method project on the effects of policing on the well-being of the African American Community in a large, predominantly Black Midwestern city. Black-led community organizations and an independent police oversight board initiated the community-engaged research process. We analyze our collaboration against the backdrop of principles for anti-racist community-engaged research. We emphasize the importance of a diverse research team and share opportunities and challenges of design, recruitment, and deep community engagement for future qualitative research projects. We assert that intersectional, feminist, anti-racist criminological scholarship remains crucial, especially in turbulent political times.