3.30
Michele W. Berger
Science News Officer
mwberger@upenn.edu
Criminology
Using science to make cities safer and healthier
Using science to make cities safer and healthier
In a Q&A, criminologist John MacDonald discusses his new book, grounded in years of research on the positive effects of remediation like fixing up abandoned lots and houses.
Childhood exposure to trauma costs society $458 billion annually
Childhood exposure to trauma costs society $458 billion annually
Bureaucratic hurdles block access to treatment services, so they tend to go unused. This leads to adverse outcomes that put stress on public systems like social services and law enforcement.
Removing human bias from predictive modeling
Removing human bias from predictive modeling
Predictive modeling is supposed to be neutral, a way to help remove personal prejudices from decision-making. But the algorithms are packed with the same biases that are built into the real-world data used to create them.
Game-changing approach to a better U.S. criminal justice system
Game-changing approach to a better U.S. criminal justice system
Through its emphasis on data-driven, systemic solutions to errors afflicting the criminal justice system, the Law School’s Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice has become a national leader in reform efforts.
What is a ‘mass shooting’ and how do we talk about gun violence?
What is a ‘mass shooting’ and how do we talk about gun violence?
In a Q&A, criminologist Richard Berk discusses why definitions matter and what role social media and mental illness play in this context.
Preventative measures against mass violence
Preventative measures against mass violence
Richard Berk, professor of criminology and statistics and chair of the Department of Criminology, taps into perpetrator patterns to forecast crime.
Documentary shows discriminatory impact of state legal assistance provision
Documentary shows discriminatory impact of state legal assistance provision
The Penn Program on Documentaries and the Law has produced a new documentary that exposes the discriminatory impact of a provision of the Pennsylvania Victims Assistance Compensation Program law that denies assistance to victims who contribute, or are suspected of contributing, to their own death or injury.
For incarcerated women, From Cell to Home offers a second chance
For incarcerated women, From Cell to Home offers a second chance
The program, run by the Ortner Center’s Kathleen M. Brown with support from Penn student volunteers and the Quattrone Center, works to secure the release of reformed prisoners serving life sentences.
Quattrone Center leads Philadelphia Event Review Team to analyze wrongful convictions
Quattrone Center leads Philadelphia Event Review Team to analyze wrongful convictions
The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice and city agencies have joined together in a partnership that seeks to improve the fairness and accuracy of the criminal justice system.
States with strict gun laws see increase in homicides when they border states with lax ones
States with strict gun laws see increase in homicides when they border states with lax ones
Over a five-year period, most guns found in states with strict gun laws were obtained from less restrictive states.
Media Contact
In the News
The New York Times
The lasting effects of stop-and-frisk in Bloomberg’s New York
John MacDonald of the School of Arts and Sciences discussed the unproductive majority of street stops made by police under stop-and-frisk. “Who’s being affected by that?” he asked. “It’s going to be people who, for example, may be likely voters, who are trying to go to school, who are afraid because they normally wouldn’t have interactions with police that are intrusive. That’s not your average offender. That’s your average citizen.”
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BBC
Democratic debate: Mike Bloomberg's record on crime in New York fact-checked
Research by John MacDonald of the School of Arts and Science was cited in an article fact-checking the most recent Democratic debate. The study found that stop and frisk “made almost no difference” to New York City’s crime rates.
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Newsweek
Bloomberg stop and frisk comments resurface, said he put ‘all the cops’ in minority neighborhoods ‘where all the crime is’
John MacDonald of the School of Arts and Sciences was cited for his analysis of the reduction in New York City crime rates, which has been attributed to stop and frisk policies. “Saturating high crime neighborhoods with extra police helped reduce crime in New York, but the bulk of investigative stops did not play a meaningful role in the crime reduction,” he wrote.
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The New York Times
An algorithm that grants freedom, or takes it away
An algorithm created for the Philadelphia Adult Probation and Parole Department by Richard Berk of the School of Arts and Sciences tries to improve on human judgement by excluding data that could be a proxy for race. “All machine-learning algorithms are black boxes, but the human brain is also a black box,” he said.
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The New York Times
Trump wants law and order front and center
Research by Aurélie Ouss of the School of Arts and Sciences on the consequences of Philadelphia’s “no cash bail” policies was cited.
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The Washington Post
Algorithms were supposed to make Virginia judges fairer. What actually happened was far more complicated
Aurélie Ouss of the School of Arts and Sciences praised a study that proved that algorithms are imperfect tools when it comes to predicting crime. She said that, ultimately, the usefulness of algorithms in criminal justice comes down to implementation: “It may be a case that a different tool that’s designed differently—that judges use differently—would yield different results.”
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