HFG Helps Launch Working Group on Violent Crime

August 20, 2021

With murders and gun violence increasing in some U.S. cities following a long decline, The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is joining with the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) to form a working group to study the issue and propose solutions. 

“Violent crime, particularly homicide, is rising rapidly in cities across the nation,” the Council said in announcing the formation of the group, citing a 30% surge in murders in 2020 compared to the previous year. “This rise in violence is claiming lives, filling prisons, and undermining momentum for policing and other criminal justice reforms. Policymakers and practitioners at all levels of government need solutions now.”

HFG is supporting the effort alongside the Charles Koch Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Microsoft.

The group will meet regularly to examine the violent crime increase and propose solutions. On August 3, the working group hosted its first online discussion, Violent Crime: What’s Happening and What Can We Do About It. Future events and reports can be found on the CCJ website. 

Members of the working group include: 

• Thomas Abt, Senior Fellow, Council on Criminal Justice (Chair)
• Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, Executive Director, Live Free Illinois
• Eduardo Bocanegra, Senior Director, READI Chicago
• Paul Carrillo, Director, Community Violence Initiative, Giffords Law Center
• Hernán Carvente-Martinez, Founder and CEO, Healing Ninjas, Inc.
• Vaughn Crandall, Co-Director, California Partnership for Safe Communities
• Linda Harllee Harper, Director, Gun Violence Prevention, Washington DC
• Daniel Isom, Director of Public Safety, City of St. Louis
• London Kite, Duval County (FL) Court Judge 
• Ajima Olaghere, Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice, Temple University
• Emily Owens, Professor, Dept. of Criminology, Law, and Society, University of California-Irvine
• Alex Piquero, Chair, Dept. of Sociology, University of Miami
• Jason Potts, Captain, Vallejo Police Department
• Chico Tillmon, Senior Research Fellow, University of Chicago Crime and Education Labs
• Emada Tingirides, Deputy Chief, Los Angeles Police Department
• Daniel Webster, Bloomberg Professor of American Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

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.

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