Papachristos’ Op-ed on the “Crime Gap”

A recent paper by Andrew Papachristos, associate professor of sociology and ISPS affiliate, analyzed the last “48 Years of Crime in Chicago,” which showed an overall drop in violent crime in that city. In his op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday, he looks on the “crime gap,” that is, the number of homicides vs. the perception of crime in disparate neighborhoods, and its overall effect on inequality.

“People are paying closer attention to all sorts of gaps — the technology gap, the income inequality gap, the gender gap, the education gap — that contribute to growing inequality,” he writes. “Closing the crime gap should be at the top of the United States’ agenda, not just for safety’s sake (which is clearly important enough) but also to reduce inequities across our citizenry.”

Read the op-ed here: “Close the Crime Gap to Help Reduce Inequality.”

Area of study 
Criminal Justice