Her schol­arship around policing explores ways in which communities participate in police accountability outside of formal government-driven processes. For example, one forthcoming article, Copwatching, explores the phenomenon of organized copwatching – groups of local residents who wear uniforms, carry visible recording devices, patrol neighborhoods, and film police-citizen interactions in an effort to hold police departments accountable to the populations they police. More broadly, Professor Simonson is interested in identifying ways in which the public participates in criminal justice processes and how that participation, in turn, has the potential to lead to broader changes in the justice system. Prior to joining Brooklyn Law School, Professor Simonson taught at NYU School of Law and was a public defender in the Bronx.