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NORC at the University Chicago
Driving evidence-based public safety and justice interventions.

NORC’s Center on Public Safety & Justice develops actionable, evidence-based solutions to crime and victimization. Those insights empower decision-makers to make criminal justice systems fairer and more effective and to inform community-level responses beyond policing and incarceration. When social systems are frayed, the Center fills an unmet need for trustworthy, non-partisan data collection and rigorous, transparent analysis and evaluation.

The Center integrates our multidisciplinary team of experts in criminology, demography, economics, and public health and NORC’s industry-leading survey data collection capacity. Our holistic approach and longstanding partnerships with diverse local stakeholders in the hardest-hit communities allow us to identify programming innovations at every societal level.

Center Lead

John Roman
Senior Fellow

Center on Public Safety & Justice Experts

“Our mission—to provide unbiased insights that empower decision-makers to render criminal justice systems fairer and more effective, and to inform community-level responses beyond policing and incarceration—remains unchanged.”

John Roman

Senior Fellow

“Our mission—to provide unbiased insights that empower decision-makers to render criminal justice systems fairer and more effective, and to inform community-level responses beyond policing and incarceration—remains unchanged.”

Our Expertise

Discover Our Research

Making justice and public safety efforts fairer and more effective requires subject matter expertise and trustworthy data and analysis.

NORC Introduces Unique Center on Public Safety & Justice

NORC Article

NORC launched its Center on Public Safety & Justice just as voters said yes to significant prison labor, drug policy, and prosecutorial reforms at the ballot box.

People and city life

Expert Panel Aims to Stem Gun Violence by Improving Data

NORC Article

Currently, there is no national- or state-level plan for gathering and disseminating data on firearms use and injury.

Scattered bullets

Advancing the Case for Early Access to Counsel in Police Precincts

The first study in California to provide legal counsel to youth prior to waiving their right to silence

Funder:

Arnold Ventures

Developing a National Database on Police Use of Force

The nation’s first police database that combines police data across multiple cities

Client:

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Harms After a Victimization: Experience and Needs (HAVEN)

A comprehensive update to the costs and consequences of criminal victimization

Client:

National Institute of Justice

Publications