John Roman on Muck Rack

John Roman

Washington, D.C.
As seen in: External Processing, Bloomberg CityLab, HuffPost, The Washington Post, Bandcamp Daily, Substack, The Hill, JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), The Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, The World Bank Research Observer and
Director, Center on Public Safety and Justice, NORC at the Univ. of Chicago| Team: @CaterinaGRoman @NPSCoalition| Essays: johnkroman.substack.com|
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Articles

The Sidewalk Ballet

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By John Roman
| External Processing
It is striking how enamored the Abundance crowd is of strict policing. This is a surprise to me. I have written about it here and here and the satire and sarcasm therein are prompted by disappointment, not contempt. I certainly understand the pull of order maintenance as a prescription for safer cities. But, it is so outside the original formulation of what it means to be a healthy city that it is worth spilling a few words on the evolution of New New-and-Improved! Urbanism.
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Is the crime decline just about more vigorous policing?

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By John Roman
| External Processing
Recently, I came across this quote from Matt Yglesias, who explains the crime spike and decline this way: I think it is broadly clear that the spike was a reaction to the George Floyd protests and that the subsequent decline reflects a return to more vigorous levels of police activity. This is a provocative take, for a couple of reasons. For one, I think it is representative of a broad class of people who are interested in urban policy projects and see crime as an impediment to those projects.
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What is the rate of recidivism for people who have been incarcerated?

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By John Roman
| External Processing
One estimate is 35%. The other is 71%. They are both correct. Few statistics are more important in crime and justice than the recidivism rate. It is obviously important for policymaking, but the impact goes much deeper. If most people who commit crimes and are incarcerated go on to commit new crimes, then there are all sorts of knock-on effects. It will be very hard to convince a potential employer to hire you. It will be hard to convince a landlord to rent to you.
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