Word.ws English Dictionary

Ferguson effect

Ferguson effect proper noun: the idea that increased scrutiny of police following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has led to an increased crime rate (or sometimes murder rate) in major US cities.

Proper noun

the Ferguson effect

  1. (US) The idea that increased scrutiny of police following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has led to an increased crime rate (or sometimes murder rate) in major US cities.

Origin of Ferguson effect

From the name of the city of Ferguson, Missouri. The term was coined by police chief Doyle Sam Dotson III and popularized by a Wall Street Journal opinion piece by Heather Mac Donald.

Questions about Ferguson effect

What does Ferguson effect mean?
Ferguson effect means the idea that increased scrutiny of police following the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has led to an increased crime rate (or sometimes murder rate) in major US cities.
What part of speech is Ferguson effect?
Ferguson effect is a proper noun.

Words near Ferguson effect in the dictionary

  1. Fergus
  2. Fergus County
  3. Fergus Falls
  4. Ferguses
  5. Ferguson
  6. Ferguson effect
  7. Ferguson reflex
  8. Fergusonian
  9. fergusonite
  10. fergusonites
  11. Fergusons

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Ferguson effect (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Ferguson effect.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ferguson_effect. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.