May 2023

Machine Learning Can Predict Shooting Victimization Well Enough To Help Prevent It

Max Kapustin Sara Heller Zubin Jelveh

This National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper shows that shootings are predictable enough to be preventable.

Related Resources
Webinar: Overview of the City of Chicago’s Violence Reduction Dashboard
Webinar

Webinar: Overview of the City of Chicago’s Violence Reduction Dashboard

Jun 2025

The Crime Lab hosted a webinar that explored the City of Chicago’s Violence Reduction Dashboard—a publicly available tool launched to support efforts to reduce gun violence through transparent, real-time data.

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.

Local Gun Violence Dashboards
Data Tool

Local Gun Violence Dashboards

Jan 2025

Chicago’s Violence Reduction Dashboard, launched by the Crime Lab in 2021, is featured in a toolkit created by Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund as a part of its Gun Violence Data Fellowship.

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.

Latest Updates

The Best Books of 2025
Media Mention
The New Yorker
Dec 2025

The Best Books of 2025

The New Yorker includes Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig’s book, “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence,” on its annual list of best books of the year.

The Urban Optimist’s Holiday Gift Guide
Media Mention
Vital City
Dec 2025

The Urban Optimist’s Holiday Gift Guide

Vital City included “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence,” a book written by Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig, in its 2025 holiday gift guide.

Why Split-Second Thinking Fuels Violence
Podcast
Behavioral Grooves Podcast
Dec 2025

Why Split-Second Thinking Fuels Violence

Jens Ludwig, the Crime Lab’s Pritzker Director, joined the Behavioral Grooves Podcast to discuss his new book, “Unforgiving Places,” which challenges society’s most entrenched assumptions about crime and uncovers what behavioral science reveals about the real causes of violence.