Illinois Criminal Justice
Justin earned his BA in psychology with a minor in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, and his MA and PhD in criminology, law, & justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is typically drawn to research related to policing, psychology, policy, youth/community development, and technology. His past research collaborations include a community survey about surveillance cameras on CTA trains, an evaluation of police body-worn camera implementation, two national surveys of police officers, and several community surveys about face-to-face police interactions. Justin’s dissertation explored the work of police officers through the lenses of community policing, emotional labor, and procedural justice and tested the relationships between officer emotional intelligence, officer attitudes and community ratings of officer demeanor.
Justin Escamilla is Authority Research Analyst.
312-793-8550
This article explores the use of randomized control trials (RCTs) to test criminal justice programs to measure effectiveness. BetaGov is a group that offers assistance to practitioners and researchers to conduct RCTs. An example of such a collaboration between ICJIA and Betagov is offered along with lessons learned.
Gun violence continues to be a major criminal justice and public health issue. This article provides an overview of one strategy to reduce gun violence—focused deterrence. The strategy has been employed in many major U.S. cities, including in Illinois in Chicago, Peoria, and Rockford. Overall research on focused deterrence strategies has found statistically significant reductions in violent crime.
