Research Team
Crime and Justice Policy Lab, University of Pennsylvania
Crime Lab, University of Chicago
Cornell University
Project Overview
The University of Chicago Crime Lab is leading a cutting-edge evaluation of the effects of improved police leadership and management training on violent crime, citizen complaints, and other outcomes. The Crime and Justice Policy Lab is supporting this effort. The
Policing Leadership Academy (PLA) is led by policing experts from around the country with a proven history of radically transforming departments to increase public safety effectiveness and fairness. The program offers a multidisciplinary curriculum that spans five months. Students will apply knowledge from the behavioral, organizational, and sociological sciences to become stronger leaders and advance effective evidence-based practices within their organizations.
To test the effectiveness of the PLA, researchers at the Crime Lab, Cornell University Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, and the Crime and Justice Policy Lab will conduct a multi-city, randomized controlled trial to measure the impact of investing in the leadership and management skills of police leaders on both community safety and unintended harms of policing.
The potential impact of this initiative at the national scale is suggested by the fact that the challenges to community safety (and the harms of policing) are disproportionately concentrated in a modest number of cities. For example, almost 50% of U.S. homicides occur in just 100 cities, as do over 30% of police killings of civilians. The PLA is a violence reduction initiative that aims to prevent violent crime, support officers, and improve fairness and effectiveness in policing. The program builds on prior research by the Crime Lab that illustrates that reforms in police department management can reduce violent crime and incidents of police use of force.
