With the aim of providing policy makers with rigorous, objective evidence that can be used to reduce crime, violence, and the toll imposed by the most corrosive aspects of the criminal justice system, the University of Chicago has announced the launch of its Crime Lab initiative in New York City.

Funded by a four-year, $4.5 million grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, which has supported the initiative in Chicago, Crime Lab New York will convene experts from multiple disciplines and agencies to develop data-driven approaches to fundamental social problems, including strategies to enhance the effectiveness of and reduce harms associated with the administration of criminal justice in the city, interventions to improve educational outcomes for students who are performing below grade level, and the use of big data techniques to help policy makers better target communities and populations for interventions that have demonstrated their effectiveness in other locations.

In one project in Chicago, for instance, Crime Lab worked with the city to design a competition aimed at reducing youth violence and eventually awarded a grant to Becoming a Man, a mentoring program developed by Youth Guidance and World Sport Chicago. Subsequent research by Crime Lab showed that participants in the program were 44 percent less likely to be arrested than non-participants. "Growing out of our strong partnership with the City of Chicago, the Crime Lab model has shown that it is possible for researchers and policy makers to collaborate in a way that uses rigorous scientific study to improve human lives," said University of Chicago president Robert J. Zimmer.

"We now have the opportunity to make New York City the leading laboratory in the country for criminal justice innovation," said New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. "This partnership will allow us to study how interventions like algebra tutoring and extended hours at community centers can provide significant public safety returns to help our city maintain low crime and violence rates."