Criminal Justice Reform

We’re advancing long overdue reforms to reduce the harms of America’s broken criminal justice system.

In cities across America, communities face high rates of gun violence and significant harm caused by the criminal justice system, which disproportionately impacts people of color. For too long, the public sector has failed to address these overlapping and systemic crises, partly because policymakers view them as a trade-off. But to truly increase public safety, society must find solutions that advance justice and reduce gun violence simultaneously.

That’s why we’re working with public sector agencies to reform our criminal justice system by designing pretrial risk assessment tools, studying the effects of cash bail, and promoting treatment instead of incarceration for individuals arrested on non-violent substance use charges.

Our evaluation of the Narcotics Arrest Diversion Program found participants were 44% less likely to be re-arrested for drug possession and violent crime charges.

We worked with Luminosity and the NYC Criminal Justice Agency to design and implement New York City’s pre-trial risk assessment tool, helping low-risk defendants avoid jail time while they await trial and helping judges avoid releasing high-risk defendants.

Related Projects
Illinois Department of Corrections’ (IDOC) Facilities Mapping Project

Illinois Department of Corrections’ (IDOC) Facilities Mapping Project

To improve access to college education opportunities in prison, the Crime Lab partnered with the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) to produce interactive statewide maps to connect facilities with nearby postsecondary education providers.

New Jersey Portfolio
CURRENT

New Jersey Portfolio

The Crime Lab is partnering with the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) to help strengthen reforms to the state’s criminal justice system introduced in 2017, including eliminating cash bail and introducing a risk assessment tool to aid in pretrial release decisions.

Chicago Fire Department Technical Assistance

Chicago Fire Department Technical Assistance

Crime Lab data analysts were embedded in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division of the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) to generate data dashboards and visualizations using data from patient care reports.

Targeted Interventions for High-Risk Domestic Violence Victims

Targeted Interventions for High-Risk Domestic Violence Victims

The Crime Lab studied targeted approaches to identify high-risk domestic violence victims, conduct outreach, and provide resources to lower the risk of experiencing future harm.

Related Resources
Transforming Criminal Justice Responses to Substance Use: Impacts on Crime, Housing, and Health Outcomes
Academic Paper

Transforming Criminal Justice Responses to Substance Use: Impacts on Crime, Housing, and Health Outcomes

Jan 2025

This paper evaluates the impact of diverting individuals who possess drugs away from arrest and into substance use treatment in Chicago between 2010-2022.

Agent-Based Model of Combined Community- and Jail-Based Take-Home Naloxone Distribution
Academic Paper

Agent-Based Model of Combined Community- and Jail-Based Take-Home Naloxone Distribution

Dec 2024

This paper outlines the impact and cost-effectiveness of naloxone distribution, particularly for people facing criminal justice involvement.

Empirical Analysis of Prediction Mistakes in New York City Pretrial Data
Academic Paper

Empirical Analysis of Prediction Mistakes in New York City Pretrial Data

Feb 2024
Brookings Institution Commentary: Making the invisible epidemic visible
Brief

Brookings Institution Commentary: Making the invisible epidemic visible

Aug 2023

Using new data from a large urban trauma center in Chicago, we document substantial under-reporting of domestic violence at the time of receiving medical care.

Latest Updates

The Alumni Dispatch: Leveling Up with the CVILA
Q&A
UChicago Crime Lab
May 2025

The Alumni Dispatch: Leveling Up with the CVILA

Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) Program Manager Alesisia Cobb sat down with alumni DuJuan “Zoe” Kennedy (Cohort 1), Tracie Campbell (Cohort 2), and Rahaman Kilpatrick (Cohort 3) to discuss the ways their CVILA experience has contributed to their professional growth.

We’ve Been Thinking About Gun Violence All Wrong
Op-Ed
TIME
May 2025

We’ve Been Thinking About Gun Violence All Wrong

Jens Ludwig, Crime Lab Pritzker Director and author of “Unforgiving Places: The Unexpected Origins of American Gun Violence,” pens an op-ed for TIME Magazine arguing that the root cause of gun violence is not what we think it is — rather than a deliberate, rational act, most shootings start with arguments that escalate and end in tragedy because someone has a gun.

The Indicator from Planet Money: What we misunderstand about gun violence
Podcast
NPR
May 2025

The Indicator from Planet Money: What we misunderstand about gun violence

Crime Lab Pritzker Director Jens Ludwig joins NPR’s The Indicator from Planet Money podcast to discuss why he believes many of us fundamentally misunderstand the problem of gun violence and how behavioral economics reveals some potential solutions.