Dr. Demar F. Lewis IV is an Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the
University of Maryland. He is also an affiliate faculty member in the Department of African
American and Africana Studies, the Institute for Public Leadership, and the Maryland Population Research Center. Dr. Lewis’s research investigates how macro-level institutionalized practices influence conditions of unsafety in Black communities and inform the ways that Black people navigate daily life in the past and present. His work grapples with the complexities of these competing dynamics while contributing to four interconnected bodies of knowledge: 1) how practices of municipal divestment, gentrification, and racism shape conditions of unsafety in the U.S.; 2) how unmet needs and experiences with the criminal legal system shape Black Americans’ preferences for traditional or alternative approaches to creating safety; 3) how mass media outlets shape perceptions of alternative safety interventions; 4) and the impact of exposures to unsafety on the population health and care-building practices of Black Americans.