Thomas Abt @Abt_Thomas Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

@asakayuka

@btetweets

@PlanetTV

@MileiConduccion

@XPtoLevel3

@retro_quant

@koneeek

@RihamUG

@ReynosoBrooklyn

@ReDgaming

@Nastya_Rosse

@SINIS7ER_ART

@Tala_Radio

@WalderSports

@Jennykiller_13

@Coach_Lehnhoff

@Curbsidepickup_

@SakenaYacoobi

@horrorhound

@CAPSFood

@ThanasisBakolas

@steemit

@mapospicy

@SutterMS_LAUSD

@SaveVideo_Bot

@Bellcast

@sakuramiko35

@wandapositions

@SarriesRugbyDev

@KwebMD

@mahieu

@RedsOnTheRise

@david_fadul

@gen_nomura

@Xmetaverse_JP

@JoeMulv

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

If you're trying to make sense of which policies work to reduce gun violence, it's helpful to keep in mind that here in the U.S., we don't really have one gun violence problem, we have at least four. Read on.

23

509

2K

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

When speaking to media about gun violence in America, I no longer use generic apolitical terms because they deny the reality that one political party is to blame for the all the bloodshed.

Opinion | Only the Republican Party can end our mass shootings epidemic

The conservative movement needs a Lincoln or a King to steer it on a saner course on guns.

www.washingtonpost.com

50

286

1K

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Have some exciting news to share. With the strong support of @UofMaryland and @Arnold_Ventures , I am starting a new venture: the Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction, also known as the Violence Reduction Center or VRC.

38

66

473

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

One thing they share, however: if guns were less easily accessible in America, all of these would be easier to handle, and gun deaths would decline. As I've mentioned before, gun licensing laws have been shown to reduce all types of gun violence.

7

29

395

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

The fourth is community gun violence, which accounts for the majority of homicides each year and is overwhelmingly perpetrated with guns. This violence doesn't get enough attention, largely because its victims are among the most marginalized in our society.

4

23

329

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

These four types of gun violence are separate but interconnected. What works to reduce one type of violence doesn't necessarily work for others, which is why we need multiple strategies to bring this terrible problem under control.

1

31

312

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

"Defunding the police" is a terrible idea that won't serve anyone well - not communities, not police, not anybody. Here are just a few reasons why.

Analysis | Power Up: Protesters 'defund the police' rallying cry is achieving some progress

Meanwhile, the White House is becoming a fortress.

www.washingtonpost.com

29

79

289

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

The first are gun suicides, which cause the most gun deaths. Some don't consider this "violence" bc the harm is self-inflicted, but given that almost 25k lost their lives in 2020 to this it's well worth including. I exclude accidents bc thankfully there aren't nearly as many.

6

20

287

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Another powerful point from @RachelKleinfeld : "Americans need to understand that you can’t just keep your head down, stay out of politics and avoid what’s happening. You’re not going to be able to hide from it."

Greg Sargent

@GregTSargent

2 years

A deeply unsettling point from @RachelKleinfeld , who studies countries that descend into political violence. Rises in political violence tends to be "preceded by a dehumanization phase." The bad news: We are "well along in that phase."

93

1K

2K

9

117

273

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

The third is domestic gun violence, which according to one study could account for as much as one quarter of all homicides each year, more than half of which are committed with a firearm.

4

24

279

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

Here's yet another implicit bias study failing to find a positive impact on police behavior. If we're going to call ourselves "evidence-based," then we need to follow the evidence and try something else.

The Marshall Project

@MarshallProj

4 years

A new study of implicit bias training for officers in the NYPD finds what one researcher calls a "null result": it may change attitudes but it hasn't changed actions or behavior. Trainers are undeterred. More at @NPR .

14

83

160

20

76

268

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

So when you're thinking about a specific policy, don't think about whether it addresses ALL gun violence, think about whether it addresses one of these four categories. And don't expect any one policy to solve all this all by itself.

2

27

267

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

The second are mass shootings, which cause the fewest homicides but get the most attention. According to the CDC, horrific incidents like #Uvalde account for less than 1% of total gun deaths.

1

14

244

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

... #DefundThePolice will go down in history as one of the worst political slogans of all time, and deservedly so. All this politics and policy by hashtag must stop.

177

26

226

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

As a committed progressive and researcher, I find some of the statements in this blog deeply disturbing. Make no mistake, this is our version of "alternative facts" and the fact it's published by the respected @urbaninstitute makes it even more worrying.

Equitable Research Requires Questioning the Status Quo

Creating equitable research requires a shift in researchers’ mentality on the values and practices of research and deep questioning of the status quo.

www.urban.org

17

48

216

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

So please, folks in the media, let's just be clear about who is to blame here. If Republicans moderated on these issues we could put some sensible policies in place to save lives right away. It's not political or partisan to recognize this obvious reality.

10

47

219

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

We as a nation are not the problem, Republicans as a party are. We want to address the crisis, they won't let us. We are not responsible for the continued senseless killing, they are.

8

66

211

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

We’ve known this anecdotally for some time, but here’s solid research showing that recent violence increases have disproportionately impacted marginalized communities.

30

65

200

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

As a former Manhattan ADA and current purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, I think Bragg made the right decision in charging Daniel Penny. Here's why.

CBS News

@CBSNews

1 year

Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine veteran, walked out of an NYPD precinct in Manhattan on his way to be arraigned after he surrendered to authorities Friday morning in the chokehold death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely.

1K

142

1K

79

60

204

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

That said, there's a big distinction between community gun violence and the others: for community violence, the guns used are usually already illegal under our current laws, whereas with other types of violence, the guns were legally owned.

7

17

204

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

This is why discussions about mass shootings tend to focus on legislation, while conversations about community gun violence focus on policing, community-based violence intervention, and other programmatic solutions.

1

18

194

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

1/ Sessions put his reasons for DOJ’s sentencing policy in print, so now we can show just how wrong he is. Read on.

Opinion | Jeff Sessions: Being soft on sentencing means more violent crime. It’s time to get tough...

The law demands I protect the lives of victims that are ruined by drug trafficking and violent crime infecting their communities.

www.washingtonpost.com

9

138

182

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Democrats want to address the problem, but they simply cannot enact the laws that we need in red states or nationally if Republicans object. And they do object, blocking even the most modest efforts to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands.

8

37

188

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Also, thanks to @Jerry_Ratcliffe for originally bringing the distinctions among forms of gun violence to my attention.

10

8

176

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

@RachelKleinfeld For more deeply unsettling but necessary details, read Rachel's @just_security piece: "The events on January 6 are not past. They are prelude."

GOP's Militia Problem: Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and Lessons from Abroad

Scholar of comparative politics and expert on descent of political parties into use of violence/militia discusses the danger signs in United States.

www.justsecurity.org

10

75

164

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

This irresponsible article reflects a disturbing deepening of the hard left's opposition to anything related to law enforcement, no matter how urgent the problem or necessary the response. Read on.

The War on Gun Violence Has Failed. And Black Men Are Paying the Price.

In Chicago and elsewhere, gun possession arrests are rising as shootings go unsolved.

www.themarshallproject.org

28

42

164

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

8 months

This is big. Very big.

Biden to create new office of gun violence prevention

The move, long been pushed by gun control groups, comes amid stalled progress on gun-safety legislation

www.washingtonpost.com

7

38

163

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

Wow. @mattyglesias really nails it here. If you want to understand why the #DefundThePolice movement runs contrary to the science, policy, and common sense, read this.

8

53

154

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Qualifier: one party isn't responsible for ALL the bloodshed. But one party is PRIMARILY responsible for our country's unusually high rates of gun violence.

20

26

135

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

13/ Trump and Sessions are crime dinosaurs, trying to revive old arguments and strategies that went extinct years old. Don’t be fooled.

3

57

122

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Our society feels like it's coming apart. People are angry and scared. During times like these, it's important to send a strong message that taking the law into your own hands will not be tolerated. People are being killed for ringing the wrong doorbell, for chrissakes.

5

24

117

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

But some of what the blog says isn't just wrong, it's dangerous. To state that objectivity and scientific rigor are "harmful research practices" is an assault on a collective truth-seeking process that is already under attack by so many on the right today.

5

11

112

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

5 months

Any explanation of youth crime in DC must begin here. This is truly an emergency that must be addressed immediately.

DC Crime Facts

@dccrimefacts

5 months

Chronic absenteeism & truancy is still incredibly high in DC schools and much higher than pre-COVID. Over 60% of high school students are chronically absent. Mayor Bowser's "Every Day Counts!" Task Force has failed to get absenteeism under control.

10

21

84

17

31

114

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Anyone with any training knows this, and Penny was trained during his time in the marines. He knew, or should have known, better. In continuing to choke Jordan Neely for minutes after he stopped resisting, he recklessly caused his death. That's manslaughter.

11

13

113

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

$280 billion per year. $767 million per day. $860 per person. The price tag for gun violence is massive and yet no figure can capture the grief of loved ones or the potential of a life cut short. Thank you @Everytown Research for this important report.

6

58

109

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

In @POTUS ' new infrastructure plan: over $5 BILLION for evidence-based community violence prevention. This. Is. Remarkable.

5

36

111

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Despite what skeptics think, a focused deterrence initiative is saving lives in Baltimore.

What caused a 33% drop in gun violence in West Baltimore last year? We analyzed it

A Banner analysis of a revived Group Violence Reduction Strategy in the Western District suggests remarkable impacts.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com

3

28

106

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

"When it comes to #urbanviolence , the first priority is to save lives, treating that violence with the same urgency that we would treat a gunshot wound in the ER." Thank you @TEDMED and @TEDTalks !

2

45

105

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

Here's what we know: failing to understanding how violent crime concentrates among small networks of people and places may be the single biggest impediment to better policy in this area.

3

25

105

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Penny has to be held accountable not for how the incident started, but for how it ended. When you choke someone out, you absolutely know it. You feel it. By disregarding that feeling, Penny killed Neely. Now he has to answer for it.

20

16

103

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

When that happens, you must release the choke. IMMEDIATELY. Any aggression past the point of resistance is not self-defense or defense of a third party, it's assault. Or worse, as it was in this case.

3

13

103

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

@CSGJC @chris_winship 12/ Cognitive behavioral therapy is perhaps the most powerful violence prevention tool out there:

6

35

98

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

It's pretty simple, but that doesn't make it easy. Read on.

4

58

96

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

This is a great article that discusses racism and extremism within police ranks, as well as the response to it. No easy answers here, but this is an incredibly important issue that not enough people are talking about.

A police chief got rid of a neo-Nazi. Then came the hard part.

An Illinois police department’s year of reckoning shows the difficulties of fighting far-right extremism in law enforcement.

www.washingtonpost.com

6

34

94

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Yesterday DC reached 200 homicides so far this year, the 1st time the city has reached that number since 2004. Baltimore is past 300. Philly is at 496. And it's only November. Folks are desperate and there seems to be no relief in sight. Frankly...

D.C. records 200th homicide of the year, a mark not seen since 2003

A man shot Monday night was latest victim of months of rising violence that has frustrated and angered city leaders and residents.

www.washingtonpost.com

7

32

94

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

Lastly, I'd like to know whether the @urbaninstitute is moving in this direction in the future. If so, I'll be a lot less interested in what their "research" has to say. We already have enough advocacy. We need more objective and rigorously produced data, facts, and evidence.

7

3

90

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

8 years

#WhyImWithHer : because I want to tell my kids how I helped elect the 1st AfAm POTUS, then the 1st female one right after.

1

31

92

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Also in 2019, I wrote this in BLEEDING OUT: "Curbing illegal gun carrying—hot people, carrying hot (illegal) guns, in hot spots—is crucial. This behavior is perhaps the most important proximate cause of urban homicide today." That's still true today.

6

12

94

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Today, as cities across America struggle to curb increases in deadly gun violence, the @CouncilonCJ 's Violent Crime Working Group - which I chair - released our evidence-backed action plan to reverse the trend and promote peace in the streets.

Saving Lives: Ten Essential Actions Can Take to Reduce Violence Now

Amid a rise in homicide, diverse CCJ panel urges leaders to reject “us vs. them” politics and collaborate on ten essential steps to reduce violence now.

counciloncj.org

4

36

85

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Your stance is unpopular with every major demographic and unsupported by any evidence that it will actually improve the lives of those you claim you want to help. Abolitionism. Will. Not. Work.

17

12

87

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

It's not all about the guns, but the guns are a huge part of it and if you can't acknowledge that you're part of the problem.

4

16

88

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

We progressives cannot push back as effectively against anti-vaxxers, climate deniers, and election conspiracy theorists, among others, if we don't stay consistent. Truth is truth and facts are facts, however difficult, unpleasant, or inconvenient they may be.

6

82

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

@abbie_henson @urbaninstitute This is not a game, or some abstract intellectual exercise. Last year we lost almost 5000 more souls to violence than the year before. We need researchers to give us the cold, hard facts on what do in response to this crisis. Hope this answers your question.

4

5

75

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 months

This is one of the most clear, cogent explanations I've seen of where policing is, where it's been, and where it needs to go. Check it out.

The Myths Holding Back Police Reform

A cop turned sociologist details the realities overlooked by advocates on both sides of the debate over policing.

time.com

3

21

82

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 months

Contrary to public perception, there are more gun deaths in rural counties than in urban ones. Urban counties have more gun homicides, but that difference is outweighed by a large differential in gun suicides.

6

46

80

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Over almost ten years practicing BJJ, I have accidentally choked people unconscious in practice and in competition several times. You know it within seconds. Their body goes limp. They stop resisting. They become unresponsive.

6

14

80

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Many people in our field are debating the recently-released results of READI Chicago, a well-known anti-violence program that provides cognitive behavioral therapy and subsidized employment to those at the highest risk for violence. For my take, read on.

4

28

79

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

Science, with all its faults, is still the best process for uncovering both truth and facts, and objectivity and rigor are absolutely essential to that process. If you're against them, you're against science.

5

7

74

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

Well done, @NewYorker .

2

33

74

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

Getting ready to speak at #TEDMED 2020 about #BLEEDINGOUT and #urbanviolence . Wish me luck!

4

3

78

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

Dear mayors, here's a concrete step-by-step plan for violence reduction as summer approaches. #BleedingOut

6

30

75

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

THIS. Police unions are the single biggest reason for the slow pace of change. I'd like to see suggestions on how to deal with this issue specifically.

7

12

74

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Right now, the single most important thing that can happen in terms of stopping violence and saving lives is for #Congress to pass the #BuildBackBetter Act, which includes $5 billion for community violence intervention - a transformative investment would change the game.

1

14

71

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

Fascinating and scary - how the right wing has created an alternative reality online:

2

73

71

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

“No city has successfully arrested its way out of violent crime, but no city has successfully programmed its way out either. We need police and community-based groups working together, not competing for funding.”

The Plight of the Violence Interruptors

One of the deadliest New York summers in recent memory is testing the alternative to police.

nymag.com

5

18

68

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Here's my latest in the @WSJ , discussing evidence-based strategies to reduce violence and announcing the @VRC_UMD , which will help to put these policies into practice. A couple of things to note as you read...

Essay | The U.S. Knows How to Reduce Crime

Evidence-based strategies like “focused deterrence” don’t conform to partisan slogans, but they have been shown to work.

www.wsj.com

3

18

69

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

According to excellent work by @Crimealytics , we can expect murder to be up about 7% nationally in 2021. That follows a 29% surge in homicides in 2020. Why is this happening? What can be done?

8

23

63

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

It's hard to be nonpartisan about this when one side wants to fix it and the other doesn't.

0

5

66

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

@abbie_henson Strongly disagree that objectivity is an illusion just because it cannot be perfected. The @urbaninstitute blog didn’t just call for critical reflection, as you are. It threw the baby out with the bath water, describing objectivity and rigor as “harmful research practices.”

1

3

58

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

“I’m terrified this stuff is going to reelect Trump in ’24. Forget about the midterms. I’m terrified this stuff is going to take down Biden if he runs for president again.” If that happens...

Dems retreat on crime and police reform

If 2020 was the year the left reordered the traditional politics of crime and policing, 2022 looks like the year centrists regained their footing and nullified those gains.

www.politico.com

129

9

64

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

Depending on your definition, we had more mass shootings in 2020 than during any previous year. The difference? They happened mostly to non-white people. Safety, awareness, and empathy should never depend on race.

High-Casualty Shootings Didn’t Disappear Last Year. The News Just Ignored the Most Frequent Kind.

2020 brought a huge spike in the kind of high-casualty shootings that get overlooked.

slate.com

0

27

65

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

Wow. @DavidKennedyNYC , chief architect of focused deterrence, one of the most effective anti-violence strategies ever created, has written perhaps the best piece to date on the moment we're in with policing and violent crime. Please read it in full.

State Violence, Legitimacy, and the Path to True Public Safety - Niskanen Center

George Floyd was—literally—killed by his government.

www.niskanencenter.org

5

29

63

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

There's so much to say about this @slate article on just how far my fellow progressives have overreached on criminal justice reform. A few thoughts on this below:

Americans Don’t Want to Defund the Police. Here’s What They Do Want.

What more than 100 recent polls tell us about how to get police reform done.

slate.com

4

22

64

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Good news out of Philadelphia: addressing abandoned housing can cut crime. There's more and more evidence showing that paying attention to the physical environment where crime happens can pay dividends. That said...

Renovating abandoned houses reduces the rate of gun violence, Penn study finds

Gun crimes went up during the study, but they went up less near houses that got new doors and windows, at a cost of $5,900.

www.inquirer.com

2

16

62

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

An important point about #DefundThePolice . When meant literally, I oppose it. When it means re-visioning the system so that police can play a smaller role in public life, especially in poor communities of color, then I'm for it, even if I don't like the framing.

1

12

64

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Just FYI, you can believe Vitale's The End of Policing is a seriously misguided endeavor and still hate Cruz.

Ted Cruz held up ‘The End of Policing’ in a hearing. Sales soared.

Alex S. Vitale’s book was No. 1 in Amazon’s sociology of race relations category after the hearing.

www.washingtonpost.com

54

5

60

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 months

This flawed piece from @MeganTStevenson is getting some attention and will likely lead some to wrong conclusions, so I'm going to rebut it below. Dr. Stevenson is an accomplished scholar and this thread challenges this particular article, not her work generally. Read on.

Megan Stevenson

@MeganTStevenson

4 months

So pleased to see my paper out in the BU Law Review! This paper surveys 50+ years of randomized control trials in criminal justice and shows that almost no interventions have lasting benefit -- and the ones that do don't replicate in other settings. 1/

42

352

1K

4

13

58

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

"America Is Having a Violence Wave, Not a Crime Wave" - perfect framing by @GrahamDavidA in @TheAtlantic .

America Is Having a Violence Wave, Not a Crime Wave

As violent crime rose in 2020, property crime continued a years-long decline.

www.theatlantic.com

3

28

58

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

Finally had a chance to review the new @GiffordsCourage report on police/community trust and #gunviolence . Bottom line: it's simply excellent - amplifying, expanding, and improving upon the most important points made in #BleedingOut . Please read it.

6

20

62

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

1/ Agree or disagree, don't take this searing critique of criminology lightly. Mandatory reading for crime nerds.

10

41

59

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

No program is a panacea, but focused deterrence currently has the strongest body of evidence supporting its effectiveness for reducing urban gun violence. Read about the strategy in this new report by Anthony Braga and @DavidKennedyNYC .

A Framework for Addressing Violence and Serious Crime

Cambridge Core - Research Methods In Sociology and Criminology - A Framework for Addressing Violence and Serious Crime

www.cambridge.org

3

24

61

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

1/ In criminal justice policy circles, DARE and Scared Straight are #1 and #2 when experts talk about popular programs proven not to work.

6

36

59

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

After 5 great years at the @Kennedy_School , so pleased to be joining @abgelb and his team at the @CouncilonCJ . 2020 promises to be a great year, so stay tuned for even more developments :)

Council on Criminal Justice

@CouncilonCJ

4 years

@Abt_Thomas is one of the nation’s leading voices for more urgent and effective responses to urban violence. He’ll continue to spread the word about evidence-based violence reduction strategies and support other Council research and policy projects

0

1

10

5

4

60

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

11 months

People often ask why, if there are proven approaches to reducing community gun violence, haven't we done more to stop it? The bottom line is race - because community violence concentrates among the marginalized, it's often difficult to get - and keep - the political will to act.

7

19

58

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Eddie Bocanegra, who directs the anti-violence initiative READI Chicago at @heartlandhelps , is joining @TheJusticeDept as a senior advisor for community violence prevention. Read on to understand why this matters.

From the streets of Little Village to Washington: A Chicago violence-prevention leader tapped to...

On a summer day eight years ago, Eddie Bocanegra, with his daughter Salome on his shoulders, stood at the head of a wooded hiking trail in a Chicago suburb to lead a group of teens on a walk. The y…

www.chicagotribune.com

2

16

59

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

7 years

12/ To combat opioids, we need targeted enforcement, but we really need more prevention; more a public health than public safety challenge.

3

17

58

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

I consult all over the country, giving guidance on how best to stop shootings and killings. In city after city, my advice is always the same: begin with a good problem analysis.

2

14

57

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

@abbie_henson Thanks for asking. In criminal justice policy (not academia), we deal with big, tough, real issues. Life, death, freedom, incarceration. No one can challenge the undeniable salience, gravitas, and objective reality of murder, for instance.

1

6

53

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

We need cops and communities to come together. That's hard to say politically in some corners, but if we really care about saving lives, we must have the courage to follow what the science is telling us. And that science says it's not either police or communities, it's both.

5

15

57

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

"Police are part of the solution, but they are not the whole solution," I told @cnn recently. "You need community-based organizations and law enforcement agencies working together."

3

7

56

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Congratulations to my friend, colleague, and mentor Laurie Robinson on receiving @ASCRM41 ’s Herbert Bloch Award, which recognizes “outstanding service contributions to the American Society of Criminology and to the professional interests of criminology.” Very well deserved!

3

4

55

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

"Hey, at the end of the day, we’re just like you, just in blue." GREAT @nytimes piece interviewing 11 officers from a diverse set of backgrounds. Lots of humanity and complexity here - give it a read.

Opinion | What These 11 Cops Think People Don’t Understand About Crime (Published 2023)

Law enforcement agents speak with Times Opinion about what policing is like in America today.

www.nytimes.com

5

17

57

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

Today the @CouncilonCJ released a landmark report on racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system. Read the whole report, but for some key takeaways, see below.

Welcome - Pushing Toward Parity

counciloncj.foleon.com

2

23

56

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

I'm pleased to announce the launch of the @CouncilonCJ 's new Violent Crime Working Group, which I will chair. More on the effort below.

4

16

55

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

4 years

"It's not that we overfund police; it's that we underfund community-based violence prevention. You can't just arrest your way out of violence, but you also can't just program your way out of it either."

A Chicago dad wanted revenge after his son was shot. An outreach worker talked him down

By Brendan O'Brien CHICAGO - On a warm evening last spring, Bo Deal got word that a teenager had been shot at a street corner in Chicago's Austin neig...

wtvbam.com

2

10

53

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

2 years

There's been a lot of coverage of record-breaking homicides over the past year, but not much news on what can actually be done. Next Wednesday, let's change that.

Council on Criminal Justice

@CouncilonCJ

2 years

On Wednesday, Jan. 12, CCJ’s Violent Crime Working Group will release its final report, Ten Essential Actions Cities Can Take to Reduce Violence Now.

2

8

17

1

15

54

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

What happened was a tragedy. For both parties. Neely was acting out but he certainly didn't deserve to die. Penny was trying to be a good samaritan, but that doesn't excuse what he eventually did.

8

52

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

3 years

Wow. Congrats to Paul Carrillo and the @GiffordsCourage team for putting the single best resource on community violence intervention workers I've seen to date. If you read one report about this important area of violence reduction, this should be it.

On the Front Lines: Elevating the Voices of Violence Intervention Workers

Elevating the Voices of Violence Intervention Workers

giffords.org

2

21

51

Thomas Abt

@Abt_Thomas

1 year

Check out this important new @CouncilonCJ report on 2022 crime trends. The good news: homicide is down 4%. The bad news: homicide remains 34% higher than before the pandemic (although still below the historical highs of the 80s and 90s).

Council on Criminal Justice

@CouncilonCJ

1 year

OUT TODAY – A new study from CCJ finds that most types of violent crime declined in major U.S. cities in 2022, but robberies and theft offenses rose. Homicide counts were 4% lower last year than in 2021, representing 242 fewer murders in the cities studied.