An unprecedented partnership between a world-class research institution and the second-largest U.S. police department led to the implementation of a data-driven policing management strategy. This successful partnership can serve as a blueprint for police chiefs in other cities and regions, as it demonstrates how partnerships between police agencies and researchers are an untapped lever to create safer communities.
City in Crisis
In 2016, the city of Chicago, Illinois, saw a 60 percent surge in murders, an increase almost unheard of in such a short time span and in such a large city.1 The U.S. Department of Justice recommended that Chicago work with Los Angeles (California) Police Department (LAPD) then-Chief of Staff Sean Malinowski to capitalize on his experience with data-driven management. While successful in other industries like professional sports, business, and medicine, the use of data and analytics was relatively new in policing. However, LAPD’s early adoption is thought to be one of the key reasons why murders had dropped drastically in Los Angeles (about 80 percent from 1991 to 2019) as well as in LAPD Chief Bill Bratton’s previous posting as New York City Commissioner (where there was a 90 percent drop in murders).2
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