crime
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The Dubious Nature of “Race Blind” Predictive Algorithms in the Courtroom
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The United States currently ranks first in the world for the rate of incarcerated individuals with an estimated 2.1 million people currently in prisons and jails across the nation. For reference, the Census Bureau estimates the U.S. population as third in the world at just under 333 million people. Home…
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Impacts of Local Ownership of Vacant Land on Crime
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Demographic and economic trends like suburbanization, deindustrialization, white flight, and foreclosures have resulted in an increase in vacant properties in cities like Chicago. High vacancy rates pose many challenges for cities and residents, including decreasing tax revenues and real estate values, while simultaneously increasing costs to the city and, potentially,…
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Why Are Mexican Political Candidates Getting Killed?
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The 2018 elections were not only the largest in Mexico’s history, but also the most violent. From September 2017 to June 2018, 48 political candidates were killed during their campaigns. Was this violence politically motivated? A consequence of the criminal activity of the drug cartels? Was it a combination of…
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How Does Pollen Affect Criminal Activity?
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A simple model of crime suggests that a criminal will act when the benefits of committing the crime outweigh the costs. The benefits might include anything from financial gain to emotional release. The costs are also wide-ranging — from the obvious legal punishments to the more subtle ways in which…
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Crime Prevention for Economic Development: Lessons from Chicago and Los Angeles
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Crime imposes an immense burden on cities, taking its toll in higher policing costs, lower property values, fewer job opportunities, and reduced overall quality of life. High and rising rates of crime are often cited as reasons for businesses not to locate to areas of concentrated poverty. Meanwhile, municipal leaders…
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The Connection of Sanctuary Cities and Crime
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In the 1980s, churches across the United States sought to provide shelter for refugees fleeing violence in El Salvador and Guatemala. The U.S. supported the regimes of these countries, and it did not want to provide political asylum to their refugees. Nevertheless, religious communities offered them protection in open defiance…
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From the Vault, February 2013: The Great Gun Regulation Debate
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This article was originally published on February 25, 2013. Link to original article here. Gun sales in the United States are a huge business; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ran 19.5 million firearm background checks in 2012 alone. The recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, has reignited the national debate…
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Undocumented Immigration May Make Communities Safer
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The increase in undocumented immigration into the United States over the past two decades has fueled controversies about public safety impacts. President Trump has stated explicitly, both during his campaign and as president, that undocumented immigrants, specifically from Latin American countries, are “bringing drugs [and] crime” into the country, and that they…
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The Deteriorating Impact of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Program in Chicago
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Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) was launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2002 to reduce gun violence across 94 federal districts. The City of Chicago adopted this program the same year, targeting neighborhoods inflicted with high rates of poverty, unemployment, gang membership, and high school dropouts. Initial evaluations determined…
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Does School Segregation Facilitate the Formation of Criminal Networks?
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People are hard-wired to form social networks, and an individual’s social network can play a role in shaping his or her behavior. Unfortunately, this social dynamic is as true for criminal networks as it is for more benign social networks. Among young people, if the behavior of an individual’s group…
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Feel It in the Air: Pollution and Crime in Chicago
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A recent study provides the first quasi-experimental evidence of a link between air pollution and criminal behavior. Researchers estimate the cost of pollution-induced crime and make a case for environmental sustainability policies that consider the impact of pollution and crime on communities.