Community Safety Leadership Academies (CSLA)
The Community Safety Leadership Academies, composed of the Policing Leadership Academy and Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, aim to educate police and community violence intervention leaders.
Project overview
Crime remains a top concern of Americans, with murder rates that – despite declines the past few years – remain off the charts compared to any other rich country in the world. And cities aren’t in a position to spend more to solve the problem; if anything, the reverse. City budgets are in crisis nationwide as federal pandemic funding ends and downtowns struggle with work-from-home.
Ultimately there is one and only one solution: Cities need to figure out how to do more with less. The good news is that America’s criminal justice system is riddled with inefficiency. That means we can get lots more public safety out of the billions of dollars cities are already spending.
It was economists who first noticed exactly how different similarly situated organizations can be in their productivity. In U.S. manufacturing, for example, the most productive factories get fully twice as much output from the same inputs as the least productive ones. We see similarly large differences in productivity in other sectors like healthcare and education.
The same is true in public safety, as New York City and Los Angeles have demonstrated in recent decades. In 2020, the U.S. saw the largest rise in homicides in 50 years, largely erasing progress toward reducing gun violence since rates peaked in 1992. Yet from the late 1990s through 2019, homicides fell by roughly 80% in Los Angeles and 90% in New York City. Those gains were driven in part by professionalized police forces that adopted stronger management practices, better technology, and improved training. At the same time, LA and New York’s public safety strategies placed a greater emphasis on community violence intervention (CVI) strategies.
That’s why we launched the Community Safety Leadership Academies (CSLA): To boost performance in police departments and CVI organizations, because quality leadership drives better outcomes. Comprised of the Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) and the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA), these programs are the first of their kind dedicated to developing leaders in policing and CVI from across the U.S. and select cities around the world to build expertise in data-driven management, evidence-based violence reduction strategies, and strengthening trust with the communities they serve.
The CSLA combines the data and behavioral science expertise of leading University of Chicago researchers with the practical experience of public safety leaders who have demonstrated success in reducing violence and improving outcomes in the communities they serve. Both academies are being rigorously evaluated to determine their effectiveness.
Years Active
2022 – present
Project Team
Roseanna Ander
Founding Executive Director
Kenneth E. Corey
Executive Director, Policing Leadership Academy
Chico Tillmon
Executive Director, Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy
The Crime Lab and its partners have made the communities they serve safer. The success of these programs demonstrates that we know how to better protect our residents and build stronger bonds between law enforcement and our neighborhoods. Leveraging these insights, the Community Safety Leadership Academies will bring together the best minds from policing, violence intervention, and research to strengthen the way we invest in community safety in cities across the nation.
Citadel Founder and CEO
The Community Safety Leadership Academies fosters more effective and efficient collaborative efforts between law enforcement and community violence intervention leaders – both of whom are working toward our shared goal of a safer and more inclusive future for all. Together, we’re building bridges, forging partnerships, and empowering our graduates to navigate the complex terrain of public safety, ensuring that our communities thrive.
Executive Director, CVI Leadership Academy
Improving the ability of community safety institutions to use data-driven management strategies is a vastly underutilized lever for stemming the tide of gun violence and closing the safety gap in America’s cities. That’s why we launched the University of Chicago Community Safety Leadership Academies, the most robust public safety management programs ever offered in the United States.
Crime Lab Founding Executive Director
Learn more about each academy
Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA)
The Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy is designed to deepen the leadership and management practices of CVI leaders so they can effectively manage community-based organizations and implement CVI strategies at scale.
Policing Leadership Academy (PLA)
The Policing Leadership Academy combines innovative leadership and management training with real world, practical policing strategies to transform police departments.
The CSLA were launched with a leadership gift from Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst, and a gift from Michael J. Sacks, Chairman and CEO of GCM Grosvenor.
The CSLA have also been generously supported by individuals and organizations including Abell Foundation; Annie E. Casey Foundation; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Bulls Community Assist Fund and White Sox Community Fund, which are both funds of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation; Bulqit; Dalio Education; John DeBlasio and DeBlasio Family Foundation; Thomas and Susan Dunn; Matt Hinerfeld and Nora Jaskowiak; IMC; J-PAL North America; R.J. Melman and Lettuce Entertain You; Motorola Solutions Foundation; Neubauer Family Foundation; Ken O’Keefe; Options Clearing Corporation; Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation; Jeff and Maggie Shapack and Shapack Partners; Steans Family Foundation; United Airlines; Gregory W. Wendt and Lisa R. Wendt; Anonymous Foundation; and Anonymous Individual.
Alumni Directory
Cohort 4 (July - November 2025)
Muhammad "Moe" Abdul-Ahad
Minneapolis, MN
Cohort 5 (January - May 2026)
Jalilia Abdul-Brown
Minneapolis, MN
Cohort 3 (December 2024 - April 2025)
Ricky Aiken
Palm Beach, FL
Cohort 4 (July - November 2025)
Mary Alexander
Indianapolis, IN
Cohort 2 (May - September 2024)
Danny Allen
New Orleans, LA
Cohort 5 (January - May 2026)
Sharelle "Rosalee" Anderson
Portland, OR
Cohort 5 (January - May 2026)
Juan Avila
Bakersfield, CA
Cohort 5 (January - May 2026)
Rodney Babb
Philadelphia, PA
Cohort 3 (December 2024 - April 2025)
John Beard
Chicago, IL
Cohort 2 (May - September 2024)
Babatunde Beeks
Aurora, IL
Cohort 3 (December 2024 - April 2025)
Ingram Bell
Greensboro, NC
Cohort 4 (January - May 2025)
Captain Scott J. Blystone
Portsmouth, VA
Capstones
Featured Capstones
Officer Wellness Program
Commander Rob Buchan
Lakewood, CO
Cuyahoga County Office of Violence Prevention
Myesha Watkins
Cleveland, OH
Transit Corridor Revitalization
Assistant Chief Stacie Schaner
Tucson, AZ
Alabama PeaceLINK
Nikesha Tilton
Selma, AL
Enhancing Community Safety and Quality of Life
Deputy Chief Erin B. Weeks
Fairfax, VA
Unseen Impact: Gun Violence & Black Women in Wilmington
Darryl Chambers
Wilmington, DE
Patrol Optimization Plan
Captain Lara Traczynski
Hartford, CT
Washington, DC: Safe Passage to Youth Leadership Bridge
Boye Sofidiya
Washington, DC
Juvenile Pre-Arrest Diversion Program
Chief of Police Tanya Terry
Indianapolis, IN
Career Pathways for Community Violence Intervention Staff
Juan Avila
Bakersfield, CA
The Impact of Trauma on Youth in Baltimore City
Major Danita Canton
Baltimore, MD
Learn more about each academy
Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA)
The Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy is designed to deepen the leadership and management practices of CVI leaders so they can effectively manage community-based organizations and implement CVI strategies at scale.
Policing Leadership Academy (PLA)
The Policing Leadership Academy combines innovative leadership and management training with real world, practical policing strategies to transform police departments.
Where We're Working
Since its launch in 2023, the Community Safety Leadership Academies (CSLA) have trained hundreds of police and CVI leaders, many in the country’s highest-violence communities across the U.S. and select cities globally.
Resources
CVI Leadership Academy: Application Information Session
View and download materials from the CVI Leadership Academy’s application information session.
Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) Overview
Read an overview of the Policing Leadership Academy (PLA), a first of-its-kind program launched in May 2023 to train America’s policing leaders working in some of our most violent neighborhoods.
Video: Reducing Violence and Improving Policing
This video offers a glimpse into the Policing Leadership Academy, a violence reduction initiative designed to prevent violent crime, support officers, and improve fairness and effectiveness in policing throughout some of the country’s most violent neighborhoods.
Video: Creating Safer Communities by Improving Policing
Griffin Catalyst highlights the Policing Leadership Academy, a new national leadership program that brings together rising police leaders from around the country for five months of advanced, intensive training in management best practices, leveraging data and technology and building community trust—all with the ultimate goal of creating safer, more vibrant communities.
Community Safety Leadership Academies: Brief
Learn more about our Community Safety Leadership Academies.
Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy Brief
Learn more about the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy in this brief.
Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy Steering Committee and Curriculum Developers
View the members of the CVILA’s steering committee and curriculum developers.
Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy Week in Washington, D.C.
View highlights from the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy’s week in Washington, D.C. in February 2024 including capstone presentations, meeting with policymakers, and the graduation event at the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris.
News and Events
Senate Passes Promoting Police Leadership Act Inspired by University of Chicago’s PLA
The U.S. Senate passes the bipartisan Promoting Police Leadership Act, landmark legislation that draws heavily from the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy (PLA).
UChicago Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy Informs First-Ever Bipartisan Federal Legislation to Expand Commander-Level Law Enforcement Training
Bipartisan Promoting Police Leadership Act, introduced by Senators Cornyn and Whitehouse, draws on UChicago model to set national standards
Second City is serious about using improv to train police leaders
Steve Hendershot for Crain’s Chicago Business joined an improv workshop hosted by The Second City for participants of our Policing Leadership Academy (PLA), where they build the skills that make great leaders: active listening, mental agility, putting aside assumptions, and communicating under pressure.
The Alumni Dispatch – This Didn’t Happen Overnight: Three CVILA Alumni Reflect on Chicago’s Progress
Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) Program Manager Heather Bland sat down with Chicago alumni Pamela Montgomery-Bosley, Edwin Galletti, and Guillermo Gutierrez to explore how their leadership, lived experience, and daily work are reshaping public safety and advancing community violence intervention across Chicago.
How to get safer streets with tighter police budgets
Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and Policing Leadership Academy Executive Director Ken Corey co-authored an op-ed about the importance of police leadership and ensuring police commanders are equipped with the tools to run modern, data-driven organizations.
Former NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth E. Corey Named Executive Director of the Policing Leadership Academy
CHICAGO, IL — The University of Chicago Crime Lab today announced that Kenneth E. Corey has been appointed Executive Director of its Policing Leadership Academy (PLA), a first-of-its-kind executive education program designed to help police leaders reduce gun violence and build trust in the communities they serve.
What it will take to fix American policing
Host Megan McArdle speaks with former New York City police commissioner William Bratton and former NYPD chief and new Policing Leadership Academy executive director Kenneth E. Corey about their work at the Academy and the program’s goals to reduce violence and improve fairness in policing.
The Alumni Dispatch: How CVILA Alumni are Shaping Policy, Practice, and Narrative
Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) Program Managers Alesisia Cobb and Heather Bland sat down with alumni DeVita Briscoe from Seattle, WA and Nikesha Tilton from Selma, AL to discuss the progress of their capstone projects, their evolving leadership roles, and the systemic changes they’re pushing forward in their cities and states.
Shaping the Future of Policing Through Commander Training
Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) Executive Director Meredith Stricker and Director of Outreach and Engagement Kenneth Corey join the Brooks Bawden Moore, LLC podcast to discuss the academy’s focus on commanders and helping departments across the country reduce violence and strengthen public safety.
The federal help Chicago really needs
The Policing Leadership Academy’s Meredith Stricker and Kenneth Corey penned an op-ed discussing the recent spotlight on crime in the U.S. and the academy’s focus on building the capacity of police commanders managing jurisdictions with the highest rates of violence.
Media Gallery
Community Violence Awareness Week Culminating Ceremony + CVILA Graduation
Policing Leadership Academy 21st Century Policing Panel
Policing Leadership Academy Cohort 1 Graduation Reflections
Policing Leadership Academy Cohort 2 Graduation Reflections
Griffin Catalyst: Creating Safer Communities by Improving Policing
Reducing Violence and Improving Policing
CVI Leadership Academy Spotlight
The CVI Leadership Academy’s Inaugural Cohort
CVI Leadership Academy Week in Washington, D.C.
CVI Leadership Academy Week in New York City
The CVI Leadership Academy’s Second Cohort
Reflections from UChicago Crime Lab’s CVI Leadership Academy