Steven Davis speaks to Jens Ludwig about his recent work on "Predicting Police Misconduct.” They delve into whether we can predict which police officers are most at risk of serious misconduct. The potential benefits of accurate prediction are large, but it also challenging to develop and implement robust prediction models.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Jens Ludwig is the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Pritzker Director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab, codirector of the Education Lab, and codirector of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the economics of crime. His research is published in top scientific journals across various disciplines, including the American Economic Review and New England Journal of Medicine.

Jens co-founded the Crime Lab and the Education Lab, which help government agencies use insights from behavioral science and data science to address real-world problems. Examples include working with the Chicago Police Department to implement data-driven management changes to reduce gun violence, and partnership with the Mayor’s Office in New York City to help build and implement a new pretrial risk tool as part of the city’s goal to close Riker’s Island.

Ludwig holds a BA in economics from Rutgers and an MA and PhD from Duke University. He was a public policy professor at Georgetown University and is on the editorial board of the American Economic Review. In 2012, he was elected vice president of APPAM and received the David N. Kershaw Prize in 2006. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science in 2012.

Steven J. Davis is the Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. He is a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research, consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, advisor to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, past editor of the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, and an elected fellow of the Society of Labor Economists. He co-founded the Economic Policy Uncertainty project, the US Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, the Global Survey of Working Arrangements, the Survey of Business Uncertainty, and the Stock Market Jumps project. He co-organizes the Asian Monetary Policy Forum, held annually in Singapore. Previously, Davis was on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, serving as both distinguished service professor and deputy dean of the faculty.

RELATED RESOURCES:

• The Jason Van Dyke Case
• Predicting Police Misconduct
• Jens Ludwig profile