HFG Helps Launch CCJ Crime Trends Working Group
February 6, 2023
(NEW YORK) — With renewed focus on U.S. crime rates and the complex reporting systems that often impede understanding, the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), an HFG partner, is forming a Crime Trends Working Group to collect, analyze and decipher U.S crime data.
The group will “probe the nation’s changing crime trends, attempt to better understand them, and help strengthen crime-control initiatives through improvements in the collection of reliable, timely crime data.“ (CCJ)
Composed of leaders from academia, advocacy, law enforcement, government, and the public health sector, the group will be chaired by University of Missouri – St. Louis Professor Emeritus Richard Rosenfeld, an HFG grantee and a former president of the American Society of Criminology.
The Crime Trends Working Group will summarize its findings in regular bulletins, host a series of public online events, and produce a final report with recommendations for improving the national infrastructure for the reporting of crime statistics. The initiative follows CCJ’s Violent Crime Working Group, which also received support from HFG.
“Our need for credible, comprehensive, timely crime trend data is greater than it’s been in 30 years, and the nation’s inability to produce it invites speculation and manipulation and erodes public confidence in the justice system – and government more generally,” said CCJ President and CEO Adam Gelb. “If we’re going to have responsible public dialogue and make faster progress toward safe communities, we need to have a much clearer picture of what’s happening and why.”
In addition to HFG, the initiative is supported by Arnold Ventures, Georgia Power Foundation, Southern Company Foundation, Stand Together Trust, #StartSmall, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Additional information on the Crime Trends Working Group is available at CCJ.org.
About The Council on Criminal Justice
The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) is a nonpartisan invitational membership organization and think tank that advances understanding of the criminal justice policy challenges facing the nation and builds consensus for solutions based on facts, evidence, and fundamental principles of justice.
About The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is a leader in creating and disseminating knowledge on the nature, consequences, and reduction of violence in its many forms, including war, crime, and human aggression.
For more information contact:
Nyeleti Honwana, Program Officer
info@hfg.org | 646.428.0971
