University of Chicago Crime Lab

Founded in 2008 in partnership with the City of Chicago, the University of Chicago Crime Lab (Crime Lab) works with policymakers and practitioners in Chicago and around the country to design and test the most promising ways to reduce crime and improve human lives at scale. In accordance with the recommendations of the Police Accountability Task Force and U.S. Department of Justice reports issued in response to Chicago's policing crisis, Crime Lab is working with the Chicago Police Department to create a data-driven early intervention system to identify officers who are encountering significant challenges at work or are in a state of crisis, in order to connect them to services, training and other help before their problems escalate into violent interactions or other adverse events. The goal is to develop a best-in-class early intervention system for the City of Chicago, improving overall policing as well as the health and well-being of police personnel, and creating a model that other cities can use when engaging in the process of police reform. A previous award enabled Crime Lab to commence a planning process for the effort and begin developing a system prototype. This award enables Crime Lab to finalize the design and complete the build-out of the new system, and to begin pilot-testing it in one police district in preparation for citywide implementation.

Founded in 2008, the University of Chicago Crime Lab (Crime Lab) was created to generate scientific evidence about the impact and effectiveness of strategies to respond to violence, school failure, and gangs. Crime Lab evaluates promising youth violence prevention interventions, primarily through randomized controlled trials, which are considered the gold standard for measuring program effectiveness. Crime Lab generates objective outcome data and cost-benefit analyses to explain what works and why.

With this award, Crime Lab evaluates Youth Guidance’s Working on Women (WOW) program, which seeks to improve outcomes for young women who are exposed to high levels of gun and other violence in Chicago neighborhoods. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a program that offers school-based, trauma-informed group counseling and clinical mentoring to young women from high-violence neighborhoods in select Chicago Public Schools. The evaluation will gauge the impact of WOW on mental health challenges common among young women in these schools, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. It assesses secondary academic and behavioral outcomes of policy significance. A portion of the grant also underwrites operating support for Crime Lab’s work in Chicago.

Founded in 2008 in partnership with the City of Chicago, the University of Chicago Crime Lab (Crime Lab) seeks to reduce violence in Chicago and around the country by partnering with policymakers to use insights from behavioral science to design promising interventions and carry out large-scale real world examinations. In response to recommendations from Chicago's Police Accountability Task Force and Department of Justice reports, Crime Lab is partnering with the Chicago Police Department to create a data-driven early intervention system to identify officers who are encountering significant challenges at work or are in a state of crisis, and to connect them to services and training to alleviate underlying problems before they escalate into public complaints or violent interactions with others. Using modern computer engineering techniques, including machine learning, the new system endeavors to identify officers much more precisely than what has been achieved to date. The goal is that the City of Chicago can develop a best-in-class early intervention system for officers, thus improving the health and well-being of frontline personnel and creating a model that other cities can use when engaging in the process of police reform. The award enables Crime Lab to complete a planning process for the effort and to build a prototype of the tool for implementation in Chicago.

Founded in 2008 in partnership with the City of Chicago, the University of Chicago Crime Lab (Crime Lab) seeks to reduce violence in Chicago and around the country by partnering with policymakers to use insights from behavioral science to design promising interventions and carry out large-scale real world examinations. The Crime Lab evaluates programs primarily through randomized controlled trials, which are considered the gold standard for measuring program effectiveness, and generates objective outcome data and cost-benefit analysis to explain what works and why in response to violence, school failure, and gangs. Its ultimate goal is to inform policymakers about which strategies do the most social good per dollar spent. The grant will provide flexible operating support to Crime Lab and enable the organization to respond to growing demands and opportunities, provide pro bono technical support for local governments, and enhance organizational stability. The grant also will allow the Crime Lab to continue to serve as a rigorous, dependable resource for policymakers in Chicago to build-with philanthropic partners-the next steps in an anti-violence strategy for the city.

The University of Chicago Crime Lab generates scientific evidence about the effectiveness and impact of strategies to respond to violence and school failure. This grant supports a design competition, funded jointly by Get In Chicago and the Foundation, that seeks to identify promising anti-violence interventions that target at-risk young people who have contact with the criminal justice system, and to subject the programs to rigorous evaluation.