Resources

This evaluation explores the early effects of the Chicago Police Department’s Area Technology Centers (ATCs), first launched in 2019 to provide specialized investigative support in homicide and nonfatal shooting investigations.

Violent crime declined substantially in 2025 across the country, including in our home city of Chicago – which experienced 168 fewer homicides through mid-December 2025 compared to the same period last year.

This video features fourth cohort of the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, a violence reduction program created to enhance the leadership and management skills of senior CVI leaders, enabling them to effectively run community-based organizations.

Building on a body of evidence showing that behavioral science-informed programs can reduce violence among youth and adults, this report highlights findings from a qualitative analysis to understand what mechanisms and components of programs–like READI Chicago–influence outcomes.

View and download materials from the CVI Leadership Academy’s application information session.

Read our theory of change for leveraging R&D to get the most social good out of government investments and create impact at scale.

This resource contains a list of data resources sometimes used by the Crime Lab. The list is Chicago-centric, but some state and national data sources are also included.

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.

This paper details updated results from a study of Choose to Change® (C2C®), a trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy and intensive mentoring program developed by nonprofits Brightpoint and Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP).

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.

View the members of the PLA’s advisory and research committees.

Kheperah Kearse, Chief Wellness Officer at LIFE Camp, Inc., penned a resource for CVI leaders focused on self-regulation and wellness practices.

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.

This video features insights from the third cohort of the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy, a violence reduction program created to enhance the leadership and management skills of senior CVI leaders, enabling them to effectively run community-based organizations.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (Illinois) visited with the third cohort of the CVI Leadership Academy to discuss opportunities to invest in CVI at the state and local level.

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.