Nov 2022
PyData NYC 2022: Customizable probabilistic record linkage with Name Match
Projects
Linking individuals across records or datasets is often a critical prerequisite for building useful data tools and answering interesting research or business questions. But doing it right is difficult and time-consuming, in part because current off-the-shelf tools do not provide a measure of linking accuracy and are too rigid to incorporate the user’s domain knowledge. In this talk, we’ll 1) define high-quality record linkage and discuss why it matters, 2) show how record linkage can be boiled down to a simple prediction problem, and 3) introduce Name Match, a new open source tool for customizable probabilistic record linkage.
Projects
Latest Updates
How Treating Teens’ Trauma Is Stopping Violence in Chicago
The Tradeoffs Podcast highlights the Crime Lab’s study of Choose to Change, a program that pairs cognitive behavioral therapy with wraparound supports to engage young people who are increasingly disconnected from school and often exposed to high levels of trauma – with the goal of keeping them safe and helping them thrive.

Major Public Safety Associations Participate in Congressional Briefing on Law Enforcement Training Priorities During National Police Week
Alumni of the Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) participated in a bipartisan briefing as part of National Police Week, focusing on key law enforcement training priorities.

Book Review: What We Get Wrong About Violent Crime
Malcolm Gladwell pens a review of “Unforgiving Places,” a new book by Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig, that reflects on how the book “challenges our assumptions about why most shootings happen—and what really makes a city safe.”
