The University of Chicago Crime Lab and RIT’s Center for Public Safety Initiatives

Public safety, incarceration, and the national gun violence crisis is top of mind, locally and across the US. The concern is clear, but the solutions are not. Enter: higher education-sponsored research and evaluation. 

Prestigious universities are directing resources and human capital to learn more about how to increase safety in our communities. The University of Chicago’s Crime Lab is nationally renowned and oft-referenced for its work in this area, and we have a local center dedicated to public safety research at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The Crime Lab at the University of Chicago’s stated mission is to design, test, and scale data-driven innovations to improve the public sector’s response to the dual challenges of America’s gun violence crisis and a criminal justice system that is not truly just. Their website is a valuable resource for research and findings based in Chicago, and the vision suggests that they plan to expand their work nationwide. 

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts hosts a multi-disciplinary research center called the Center for Public Safety Initiatives that examines strategies to reduce crime and enhance the administration of justice. Services of the center include program evaluation, data analytics, and project management. Be sure to visit the website for research, staff and student information, and a story map collection that provides public-safety data for Monroe County.