Brenden Beck

I am a sociologist and associate professor in the Rutgers University School of Criminal Justice. I study policing, housing markets, and local government budgets in the U.S., analyzing how they shape and are shaped by their social and economic contexts. In one current research project, I am comparing how police and social service spending affect crime. In another, I am examining how the post-2008 growth in institutional landlords increased home prices and changed neighborhoods.

My scholarly work has appeared in Criminology, Social Forces, the Annual Review of Criminology, and elsewhere. "Governing Through Police," co-authored with Adam Goldstein, received the American Society of Criminology's Petersilia Award for the best article of 2020. "Policing Gentrification" was among the five most-downloaded articles in City & Community from 2020 to 2023. My public writing has appeared in Slate, the New York Daily News, the Appeal, and AM New York.

I previously held appointments at the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Florida. I received my PhD in sociology from the CUNY Graduate Center.