A University of Colorado study released Thursday finds no evidence that the 2014 shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer led to a widespread surge in certain crimes.
Researchers wondered whether the so-called “Ferguson Effect” -- a hypothesis that the furor around the police shooting, and other cases like his, have led to an increase of crime nationwide because police officers have backed off from enforcement.
The study did find robberies and murders are up in some cities. But an analysis of data from 81 large U.S. cities found no significant increase in the overall crime rate.
