Richard Rosenfeld

Richard Rosenfeld (December 20, 1948 – January 8, 2024) was an American criminologist and Founders Professor at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Early life and education
Richard Rosenfeld was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 20, 1948. He received his B.A. in 1972 and his Ph.D. in sociology in 1984, both from the University of Oregon.

Career
After working as an assistant professor of sociology at Skidmore College for four years, Rosenfeld first joined the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 1989 as an assistant professor and research fellow at their Center for Metropolitan Studies. In 2007, he was appointed Curators Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, and became a Founders Professor there in 2014.

Research
Rosenfeld's research focused on crime statistics and policies aimed at reducing crime, also known as crime control. In a 2014 study, Rosenfeld and his graduate student, Joshua Williams, found that most defendants in gun crime cases in St. Louis were young males with prior felony arrests, and that about 40 percent of people arrested for such crimes were never charged. His research has also found that half of all violent crime in St. Louis occurs in only 5 percent of the city's street blocks, most of which were in disadvantaged neighborhoods on the city's north side. A 2015 report authored by Rosenfeld and released by the Sentencing Project that found that there was no convincing evidence of the alleged Ferguson effect in St. Louis. In 2016, he changed his mind stating that, "The only explanation that gets the timing right is a version of the Ferguson effect."

Death
Rosenfield died in St. Louis on January 8, 2024, at the age of 75.