Book release April 21, 2025 – Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence

Learn more

Pre-order

 

Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, and co-director of the Education Lab. He helped found the Crime Lab and Education Lab to work closely with the public sector to solve pressing social problems. These partnerships have led to important policy changes in cities around the country, including Chicago and New York, and have been featured in national news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, PBS News Hour, and National Public Radio, and the scientific basis for these policies have been published in leading peer-reviewed journals like the American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of EconomicsScience, and Nature. In 2012 he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science.

Jens’s Resources
Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Other

Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence

Apr 2025

Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig authored a book that argues the lack of progress in reducing gun violence ultimately stems from our having misunderstood the nature of the problem, and that behavioral science gives us a new way to understand – and solve – gun violence in America.

Valuing the benefits of reducing firearm violence in the United States
Academic Paper

Valuing the benefits of reducing firearm violence in the United States

Jan 2025

This paper estimates the monetized value of the impact of reducing firearm violence and how that value is distributed across the population.

Policy Brief: Understanding and Improving Early Intervention Systems
Brief

Policy Brief: Understanding and Improving Early Intervention Systems

May 2024

This policy brief is a summary of a research paper entitled “Predicting Police Misconduct” by Greg Stoddard, Dylan Fitzpatrick, and Jens Ludwig.

NBER Working Paper: Predicting Police Misconduct
Academic Paper

NBER Working Paper: Predicting Police Misconduct

May 2024

This paper outlines the results of research on over a decade of Chicago Police Department data that shows it is possible to predict risk of on-duty and off-duty misconduct, allowing police departments to prioritize training and supportive resources.

Jens’s Projects
Clearance Rates
CURRENT

Clearance Rates

The Crime Lab partnered with the Chicago Police Department to analyze historical trends in clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings and evaluate the innovative Area Technology Center (ATC) model.

New York City Release Assessment
CURRENT

New York City Release Assessment

The Crime Lab partnered with New York City leaders to update its pretrial release assessment to be more accurate and equitable with the aim of helping judges reduce pretrial incarceration by identifying the vast majority of low-risk defendants who can be released without bail or other pretrial conditions.

Strategic Decision Support Centers (SDSCs)

Strategic Decision Support Centers (SDSCs)

The Crime Lab and the City of Chicago joined forces to implement data-driven management strategies that address gun violence in some of the city’s most heavily affected communities.

Officer Support System (OSS)
CURRENT

Officer Support System (OSS)

The Crime Lab partnered with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to develop the Officer Support System (OSS), a next-generation, data-driven early intervention system to promote officers’ long-term mental health and wellness.

Latest Updates

The best way to cut gun violence, and it’s almost free
Op-Ed
Crain's Chicago Business
Jul 2025

The best way to cut gun violence, and it’s almost free

In an op-ed for Crain’s Chicago Business, Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig highlights the importance of using data-informed practices to improve public safety and shares key insights from behavioral economics that provide a playbook for addressing gun violence that is both effective and low-cost.

John McWhorter & Jens Ludwig – The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence
Podcast
The Glenn Show
Jun 2025

John McWhorter & Jens Ludwig – The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence

Jens Ludwig and John McWhorter join The Glenn Show with Glenn Loury to discuss Ludwig’s latest book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.” Ludwig argues that much of the gun violence we observe in America arises from in-the-moment disputes rather than premeditated actions. He suggests that by applying principles from behavioral science, we can de-escalate altercations before things turn violent.

Novel approaches can chip away at gun violence, and make a big difference
Op-Ed
Chicago Sun Times
Apr 2025

Novel approaches can chip away at gun violence, and make a big difference

In an op-ed for the Chicago Sun-Times, Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig argues that when it comes to gun violence, we’ve been focused on the wrong solutions – a key insight from his new book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence.”