CRLJ Research

Center for Excellence in Homicide and Sexual Assault Investigations

Funded by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, this Center was created to advance the practice of criminal investigations through the application of social and physical science knowledge. The Center staff is gathering, producing, and disseminating research findings on the criminal investigation process. The Center seeks to advance knowledge, facilitate exchanges between practitioners and researchers, and identify best practices and new standards of performance for investigators and prosecutors. The Center is building a communication bridge between science and law enforcement practice to improve both the fairness and effectiveness of criminal investigations involving homicide or sexual assault. (discontinued March 4, 2015)

PI: Dennis P. Rosenbaum; Co-PIs: Robert Boehmer & William McCarty; Senior researchers: Megan Alderden, Rachel Johnston, Christine Martin, Joseph L. Peterson, & Donald Stemen

The National Police Research Platform: Phase 2

Funded by the National Institute of Justice, this project continues to build a national research platform for advancing knowledge and practice about law enforcement personnel and organizations. New measurement systems were implemented with a national sample of 100 agencies.

PI: Dennis Rosenbaum; Co-PIs: Assistant Professor William McCarty, Associate Center Director Susan Hartnett

The National Police Research Platform

Funded by the National Institute of Justice, this 7-university research team has created a new measurement system for advancing knowledge and practice in policing. The primary objectives are to 1) implement the full police research platform with a national probability sample of law enforcement agencies, 2) integrate complementary methods to gain a deeper understanding of the contextual factors that help to explain the differences between and within organizations, 3) test the utility of a longitudinal framework for understanding changes within police organizations, and 4) explore the impact of translational criminology on police organizations.

PI: Dennis P. Rosenbaum; Co-PIs: Megan Alderden, Gary Cordner, Lorie Fridell, Susan M. Hartnett, Stephen D. Mastrofski, William P. McCarty, Jack McDevitt, Wesley G. Skogan

The Quality of Policing in Illinois: Closing the Gap between Evidence and Practice

Funded by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and in partnership with the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, we expanded our Police-Community Interaction Survey model statewide. This expansion establishes Illinois as a leader in bridging the gap between police science and police practice through a measurement system which focuses on the fairness and quality of police-citizen contacts.

Co-PIs: Robert Boehmer & Dennis P. Rosenbaum

An Evaluation of Gang Hot Spots Policing in Chicago

Funded by the National Institute of Justice, this study examined hot spots policing, where resources are deployed to “hot” geographic areas where unusual levels of violence are evident or predicted.

PI: Dennis P. Rosenbaum; Co-PI: Amie M. Schuck; Coauthors: Rachel Johnston, Megan Alderden, and Timothy Lavery

Racial Profiling in Illinois

Funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation, the project measured the extent to which race is used as a factor in police traffic stops and searches in Illinois. The analysis included approximately 2.5 million stops per year in Illinois across 1000 jurisdictions.

PI: Dennis P. Rosenbaum; Co-PI and Project Director: Alexander Weiss

Examining Minority Trust and Confidence in the Police in Chicago

Funded by U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, this project examined relationship networks and the processes through which trust and confidence in municipal police is built up and eroded in six communities in Chicago.

PI: Darnell Hawkins; Co-PIs: John-Jairo Betancur, Chip Coldren, Sandra Kaminska-Costello, Dennis P. Rosenbaum

Safe From the Start Evaluation

Funded by the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, this longitudinal evaluation project is designed to evaluate and aid in the development of a coordinated community response to children aged 0 to 6 exposed to community and domestic violence.

PI: Paul Schewe; Co-PI: Heather Risser

Evaluation of Illinois Project Launch

Funded by SAMHSA, the purpose of this project is to aid in the development and evaluation of a coordinated community effort to address the social-emotional needs of young children in Illinois.

PI: Paul Schewe; Co-PI: Heather Risser

National Assessment of the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiatives

Funded by U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice. Evaluation research in 10 U.S. cities examined the development, implementation, and short-term impact of new approaches to collaborative problem-solving and crime reduction; particularly gun-based and youth-related violence.

PI: Dennis Rosenbaum; Co-PI: Chip Coldren

GPS Monitoring Technologies and Domestic Violence: An Evaluation Study

Funded by the National Institute of Justice, this study examined GPS monitoring technologies in cases of violence against women.

PI: Edna Erez; Co-PIs: Peter Ibarra; Amie Schuck

Formative, Process, and Impact Evaluation of CLEARPath

Funded by the MacArthur Foundation, this project evaluated the development and implementation of a web-based portal for information sharing between the Chicago police and selected Chicago communities.

PI: Amie Schuck; Co-PI: Dennis Rosenbaum

The Impact of Information Technology on Police and Community: An Evaluation of the Chicago Police Department’s CLEAR Initiative

Funded by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, this study examined the Chicago Police Department’s new CLEAR information system and its usage by Department personnel and community members.

PI: Dennis Rosenbaum

The Chicago Internet Project

Funded by the National Institute to Justice, this grant was a demonstration and evaluation of a citywide community Internet survey using a randomized experimental design.

PI: Dennis Rosenbaum; Co-PI: Amie Schuck

Social Reactions, PTSD, and Drinking in Sexual Assault Victims

Funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institutes of Health, the major goals of this RO1 project were to improve knowledge of psychosocial factors related to PTSD and drinking problems in sexual assault victims and to understand women’s experiences of mental health service seeking post-assault.

PI: Sarah Ullman

Longitudinal Study of Social Support, PTSD, and Drinking in Rape Victims

Funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, this longitudinal study examines how victims’ experiences of general and assault-specific social support relate to their coping and behavioral responses, post-assault adjustment, and risk for revictimization, as well as whether relations between these factors differ depending on whether the victim was drinking prior to being assaulted.

PI: Professor Sarah Ullman; Co-PIs: Stephanie Riger; Richard Campbell.

Assessment of Legal and Social Needs for Victims of Crime in Cook County

Funded by the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, the purpose of this project is to identify gaps and barriers to legal advocacy and social services for victims of crime in Cook County.

PI: Associate Professor and Director Paul Schewe; Co-PI: Research Professor Heather Risser, UIC’s Interdisciplinary Center for Research on Violence.

Census of Publicly Funded Forensic Crime Laboratories

Funded by U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, this project collected data on the personnel and resources of publicly funded forensic laboratories throughout the United States.

PI: Joseph Peterson; Co-PI: Sandra Costello

Transnational Crimes among Somali-Americans: Convergences of Radicalization and Trafficking

Funded by the National institute of Justice, this project explores transnational criminal activity among Somali-Americans with attention to the convergence of radicalization processes with trafficking.

Co-PI:  Professor Edna Erez; PI:  Steven Weine, MD, Department of Psychiatry