Policing
If we want to address America’s gun violence epidemic and save lives today, fair and effective policing is essential. But for too many communities, we are failing to deliver that kind of policing.
While the homicide rate has decreased nationwide since its historic high in the 1990s, many of America’s most violent neighborhoods are experiencing higher rates of gun violence than ever before. This gun violence has exacerbated the safety gap in American cities and taken a devastating toll on communities of color. If we want to address America’s gun violence epidemic and save lives today, fair and effective policing is essential. But for too many communities, we are failing to deliver that kind of policing.
The Crime Lab works directly with police agencies and experts to evaluate interventions to improve officer training, strengthen department management, narrowly focus violence reduction efforts, and rebuild police-community relationships to make policing more fair and effective.
Our research found that when police department leadership changes, rates of violent crime and police use of force can drop at least 20-35% – proving that management matters.
Police officers who completed Sit-D, a training program designed and evaluated by the Crime Lab, engaged in 22% fewer uses of force for months after the training.
Policing Leadership Academy
The Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) is designed to increase safety and fairness in America’s most violent neighborhoods.
Officer Support System (OSS)
The Crime Lab partnered with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to develop the Officer Support System (OSS), a next-generation, data-driven early intervention system to promote officers’ long-term mental health and wellness.
Situational Decision-Making (Sit-D)
The Crime Lab and the Chicago Police Department (CPD) partnered to create and evaluate a behavioral science-informed training that helps improve officer decision-making in ambiguous, high-stress situations.
Workforce Allocation Analysis
The Workforce Allocation (WFA) Analysis examined where personnel resources at the Chicago Police Department are allocated to improve efficiency, equity, and transparency in patrol staffing.
Webinar- Situational Decision-Making: A New Training to Improve Policing
The Crime Lab hosted a webinar on the findings of our recently released study, A Cognitive View of Policing, which evaluated a pilot of the Situational Decision-Making (Sit-D) police training program.
NCGVR Webinar: Interventions to Improve Police Effectiveness
In a recent webinar hosted by the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research, Oeindrila Dube presented her findings on the evaluation of Situational Decision-Making, while Philip Cook discussed the evaluation of the Chicago Police Department’s Area Technology Centers.
NBER Working Paper: A Cognitive View of Policing
Read the working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
NBER Working Paper: Body-Worn Cameras in Policing: Benefits and Costs
This working paper dives into what we know about the benefits of body worn cameras and how those benefits
compare to the costs of this new technology.
Latest Updates
Second Chance Month: Centering Lived Experience in Violence Intervention
In recognition of Second Chance Month, the National League of Cities’ Maryam Ahmed and Kirby Gaherty write about the importance of centering “credible messengers”—people with lived experience in the justice system—to advance community safety and highlight the Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy.
Why America fell for guns
Megan Kang, a Crime Lab affiliate and Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Princeton University, writes an essay that describes America’s extraordinary levels of gun ownership in the context of a key turning point in US gun culture in the mid-20th century.
Oeindrila Dube on Cognitive Behavioral Training for Police
In this episode of Probable Causation, Dr. Oeindrila Dube discusses her research on Situational Decision-Making, a cognitive behavioral training program for police.
