Nikki Jones

Nikki Jones is a Professor of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She specializes in the intersection of race, gender, and criminal justice, with a focus on policing, surveillance, and violence affecting Black communities. Her research includes analysis of police interactions with Black youth, housed in Berkeley’s Justice Interaction Lab. Jones holds affiliations with UC Berkeley’s Center for Race and Gender, Department of Women and Gender Studies, and Center for the Study of Law and Society.

Education: Ph.D. in Sociology and Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania. Previously served as faculty at UC Santa Barbara (2004–2013). She is a past-Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Race, Gender and Class Section (2012–2013).

Research interests span urban ethnography, race relations, and criminology. Her work examines systemic inequities in policing, gendered violence, and the experiences of Black youth in high-surveillance neighborhoods. Key themes include spatial racism, legal discourse around childhood, and the politics of redemption among Black men.

Notable awards include the Michael J. Hindelang Book Award (2020), W.E.B. Du Bois Award (2020), and Coramae Richey Mann Award (2018). Her research has informed media discussions on outlets like CNN, BBC, and KQED.

Advising and grants: Received funding from the William T. Grant Foundation and American Society of Criminology. Her work bridges academia and activism, emphasizing policy implications of her findings. Collaborations include interdisciplinary teams studying policing dynamics and juvenile justice.

Labs/teams: Director of the Justice Interaction Lab, which archives police encounter data. Engages in collaborative projects with sociologists, criminologists, and legal scholars to address systemic racial and gender disparities.