Joe Hermer is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and Chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He works in the area of law and criminology with a particular focus on the policing and regulation of vulnerable populations. He is currently the lead investigator of the Policing and Homelessness Initiative (policinghomelessness.ca). One of the main projects of this initiative is the mapping of anti-homeless offences located in municipal by-laws across Canada. His works include Regulating Eden: The Nature of Order in North American Parks (University of Toronto Prewss), and Policing Compassion: Begging, Law and Power In Public Spaces (Hart).