Reducing Gun Violence, Advancing Justice
Summer Safety Analysis: Chicago Crime Trends
These data visualizations present our summer safety analysis on Chicago crime trends.
Democratic National Convention (DNC) Platform Committee Hearing: Testimony from Dr. Chico Tillmon
Watch Dr. Chico Tillmon, Executive Director of the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, deliver his remarks to the Democratic Platform Committee at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on July 9, 2024.
May 24, 2024: Policing Leadership Academy graduates and staff at the graduation ceremony for its second cohort. Photo by Beking Media.
The Crime Lab designs, tests, and scales data-driven innovations to improve the public sector’s response to the dual challenges of America’s gun violence crisis and a criminal justice system that is not truly just.
Given its scale, when it comes to gun violence and the criminal justice system, the government can cause the most harm from its failure–or have the greatest positive impact. That’s why working with public sector agencies to improve their response is central to the Crime Lab’s work: it’s the best way to make progress at scale.
Topics
Our goal is to have an outsized impact on our streets, in our courts, and across our justice system to support neighborhoods disproportionately suffering from these crises. That’s why the Crime Lab measures success in terms of real-world results.
Community Violence Intervention
Through a combination of street outreach by credible messengers and behavioral science-informed interventions, community violence intervention (CVI) programs help de-escalate stressful situations before they lead to violence.
Criminal Justice Reform
We're advancing long overdue reforms to reduce the harms of America's broken criminal justice system.
Gun Violence
In cities across America, communities face high rates of gun violence and significant harm caused by the criminal justice system – both of which disproportionately impact communities of color.
Policing
If we want to address America’s gun violence epidemic and save lives today, fair and effective policing is essential. But for too many communities, we are failing to deliver that kind of policing.
Youth Violence
Gun violence is the leading cause of death for young people in America. But youth violence interventions can help keep kids safe and reach those who are the hardest to reach.
Latest News & Events
Can We Predict Police Misconduct?
In a recent Economics applied podcast, Crime Lab Faculty Director Jens Ludwig shares about his recent work on “Predicting Police Misconduct.” Jens dives into whether we can predict which police officers are most at risk of serious misconduct.
Machine-gun conversion device dubbed ‘Glock switches’ taking violence to the ‘next level’: Experts
Jens Ludwig, Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, speaks with ABC News on a disturbing new public safety trend: teenagers armed with weapons converted into machine guns with cheap “Glock switches.”
“From a public safety perspective, from a public health perspective, this is a problem that, unfortunately, is disproportionately concentrated in the country’s most economically vulnerable communities of color.” – Jens Ludwig
Shootings in Chicago are concentrated in the summer, yes. That’s only part of the story.
Crain’s Chicago Business covers the Crime Lab’s new analysis of summer crime trends in the City.
