Crime and criminal justice in Chicago: Challenges for the new mayor

Jens Ludwig is Director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, and the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor of Public Policy. He helped found the Crime Lab 10 years ago to work closely with local government to reduce both crime and the harms of the criminal justice system. The Crime Lab is, among other ongoing projects, working with the Chicago Police Department to reduce gun violence and strengthen police-community relations in the city’s most impacted neighborhoods, partnering with the Heartland Alliance and other social service providers to identify and serve those young men in the city at highest risk for gun violence, and helping the Mayor’s Office in New York City with their ambitious effort to close the Rikers Island jail. Previous Crime Lab projects have been featured in national news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, NPR and PBS News Hour.