Jan 2025

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.

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Related Resources
Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) Overview
Handout

Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) Overview

Aug 2025

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.

Policing Leadership Academy Advisory and Research Committees
Other

Policing Leadership Academy Advisory and Research Committees

May 2025

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

More and better video evidence for police investigations of shootings: Evaluation of Chicago’s Area Technology Centers
Academic Paper

More and better video evidence for police investigations of shootings: Evaluation of Chicago’s Area Technology Centers

Dec 2025

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.

Video: Reducing Violence and Improving Policing
Video

Video: Reducing Violence and Improving Policing

Feb 2025

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.

Latest Updates

Do the Police Have a Management Problem?
Podcast
Freakonomics Radio
Dec 2023

Do the Police Have a Management Problem?

Crime Lab Pritzker Director Dr. Jens Ludwig was featured on the latest Freakonomics Radio episode with Policing Leadership Academy participants and leaders. In this episode, Jens and Freakonomics Radio host Stephen J. Dubner discussed our Policing Leadership Academy and the importance of professionalizing police leadership to effectively reduce gun violence.

Policing Leadership Academy Graduation of Third Cohort
Event
UChicago Crime Lab
Nov 2024

Policing Leadership Academy Graduation of Third Cohort

The Crime Lab hosted the graduation of the third cohort of the PLA, the only police management and leadership training program in the country specifically designed to increase safety and fairness in America’s most violent neighborhoods.

What new tactic Knoxville police and city officials say helped reduce shootings in 2024
Media Mention
Knoxville News Sentinel
Jan 2025

What new tactic Knoxville police and city officials say helped reduce shootings in 2024

The Knoxville News Sentinel’s Myron Thompson cites a Crime Lab study showing that streets with more lighting see a decline in crime.