April 11, 2018

Mayor Emanuel, Ken Griffin, University of Chicago Crime Lab Announce $10 Million Grant to Support Police Innovation in Crime Fight

Transformative grant supporting strategic capabilities, research partnerships and officer supports as new SDSC opens in 25th District

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent Eddie Johnson and the University of Chicago Crime Lab today joined philanthropist and Citadel CEO Ken Griffin to announce the launch of a new initiative to reduce violent crime in Chicago. The $10 million grant will accelerate proven crime reduction programs, advance technology and data analytics, expand officer training and support, and launch a new innovation fund to help make Chicago a safer place to live and work. The grant builds on Mayor Emanuel’s comprehensive public safety strategy to promote effective and equitable policing – a cornerstone of public safety.

“This incredibly generous donation will help us deliver on our comprehensive public safety strategy by expanding training, technology, and trust between police and residents,” said Mayor Emanuel. “This is another demonstration of how civic innovation, academia and philanthropy can come together to create meaningful and lasting impact for the city we all love. The impact of Ken’s donation will be felt for generations to come.”

The grant will support CPD and the Crime Lab’s joint efforts to leverage data analysis, community input and technology resources to improve public safety in four key ways: 1) sustaining and expanding the Crime Lab’s analytic support of CPD’s intelligence-driven policing strategy implemented last year, 2) advancing the use of data analytics throughout the Department, 3) strengthening training, wellness and supports to police officers, and 4) leveraging research and technical expertise to support a safer Chicago in every neighborhood.

“As a community, we are unified in our desire for Chicago to be a safer place to live and work. No child, anywhere, should be afraid to walk to school or play outside. A safer Chicago attracts more families and better jobs, and provides a better quality of life for all,” said Ken Griffin. “I am proud to support the University of Chicago Crime Lab, whose programs have had a powerful impact on reducing violent crime. I hope this initiative inspires other leaders to join the important efforts by many to make our city safer for everyone.”

“The Crime Lab was created with the explicit goal of trying to make our city safer and more equitable for all who live here” said Roseanna Ander. “This generous grant will further our efforts to use data and evidence to drive progress, building on our decade of partnership with city agencies and community-based organizations across Chicago. We are proud to work with philanthropist and business leader Ken Griffin and the Department to further these efforts to reduce violence, to promote community engagement and trust, and to enhance opportunities for all Chicagoans.”

"For nearly two years we have been working to make CPD an agency every Chicagoan can be proud to call their police department and in order to reach that goal we have made significant investments in personnel, technology, and training," said Superintendent Johnson. "This generous donation by Ken Griffin will allow us to take our efforts to the next level in exploring how we can better serve the city and continue the downward trend in violence. I look forward to working with the Crime Lab to apply smart and effective approaches to our challenges and ultimately bring about a brighter and safer future for those we serve."

Strengthening and expanding CPD’s intelligence-driven policing strategy
In early 2017, the CPD, in close collaboration with the Crime Lab, launched the first strategic decision support centers (SDSC). The district-based nerve centers bring together a suite of technology resources, including gunshot detection systems, digital cameras, and software that highlights areas in communities that are at the highest risk of violence. District commanders use these resources to monitor crime developments in real-time; develop localized crime reduction strategies to meet the needs of, and with input from, the community; and then adjust activities to prevent crime more effectively. The weaving together of technology, analytical processes, leadership and robust community engagement is showing dramatic results with the Englewood (7th) District seeing a 67% decrease in shootings compared to 2016 and the Grand Central (25th) District already seeing a 40% reduction in shootings compared to 2017. Since their launch, the Crime Lab has embedded data analysts in the SDSCs to provide analytic support, develop processes for using data to support officer deployment and to identify opportunities for collaboration with community partners. The data from Crime Lab analysts supports CDP officers as they develop localized crime reduction strategies using data analysis, human intelligence and input from the community. These efforts are tailored to meet the unique needs of each community, with community concerns incorporated into the district's daily planning process. A significant portion of the grant will support the Crime Lab’s continued collaboration with CPD in the SDSC program through 2019.

Advancing the use technology and tools to drive data analytics within the Department
The effective use of technology is at the heart of effective modern policing. The donation will expand CPD’s collaboration with the Crime Lab to expand CPD’s analytical framework, prioritizing data gathering, analysis and improved display of CPD’s core crime management system, CompStat, as well as improving the flow of information delivered and shared between CPD headquarters and districts. This grant will support the enhancement of the analytics framework within CPD in order to better integrate and share data across the department and improve the data management systems used to fight crime and enhance community interactions.

Supporting officers’ professional development and wellness
CPD is currently in the process of working with the Crime Lab to design a system to identify when and how to extend officers additional support if needed. The donation will fund the development of a comprehensive set of supports and services for police officers, such as training, stress management and mental health resources, that prioritizes community engagement and building trust with the residents police serve– one of the key reforms identified by the Obama Justice Department and the Mayor’s Police Accountability Task Force. Drawing on national best practices and the expertise of executive staff from police departments across the country, this work will identify, implement and evaluate robust services and supports for the officers that need them most.

Promoting policing innovation and collaboration
This collaboration between the Crime Lab and the Chicago Police Department will aim to co-produce evidence to improve the CPD’s work as well as its relationship with the community. Building off recent experience, CPD and Crime Lab will use part of this grant to continue to collaborate on a series of new initiatives, including leveraging national expertise to assist and advise the Department and help CPD operations set the standard for national best practices. The Crime Lab will work with CPD as a research partner that will include developing rapid response evaluations of questions in the field and designing long-term intervention tests that will ensure the Department and the Crime Lab are well positioned to benefit from emerging trends and new technology in community safety.

The University of Chicago is committed to advancing urban research with the potential to make a lasting impact in addressing society’s greatest challenges. Since its launch in 2008, the Crime Lab has partnered with policymakers and practitioners to help cities design and test the most promising ways to reduce violence and improve human lives at scale.

Today’s announcement took place as CPD expands its smart policing strategy to the 25th (Grand Central) District and the Department doubles the number of districts utilizing intelligence-driven strategies in 2018 to 13 of Chicago’s 22 Districts. In the 25th (Grand Central) District, a station based Strategic Decision Support Center has been installed along with gunshot detection technology and additional POD crime cameras, to support police in preventing, combating and responding to violent crime. The implementation of this suite of technology and analytical tools builds upon CPD’s crime strategy of targeted, data driven enforcement to build a culture of accountability among violent offenders. Year-to-date, across the police districts that have implemented an SDSC since at least January, the number of shooting victims has decreased by 41%, outpacing reductions citywide.

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