CRIME AND JUSTICE POLICY LAB - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Criminology / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Abby Camp is an undergraduate student at Penn majoring in Criminology and minoring in Law & Society and Latin American Studies. Abby's research interests include criminal investigation, specifically in crimes against children and violent crime, as well as psychological and social explanations for criminal behavior. Abby has experience working with law enforcement agencies at both the local and federal level.
Job Titles:
- Richard Perry University Professor, Departments of Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Program Associate
- Associate at the Crime
Alexa Mason is a Program Associate at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab. Her work supports partners in Baltimore and Massachusetts as they implement a revamped Group Violence Reduction Strategy and maintain longstanding gang violence prevention programming, respectively.
She is currently a candidate for the Master of Science in Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, where her coursework focuses on effective policy evaluation and analysis, dismantling mass incarceration, criminal justice social policy, and economic theory. She also has significant research experience on a variety of racial justice issues, including the impact of socioeconomic segregation on public school zoning and the relationship between Black music styles and movements for social change.
Prior to joining CJP, Mason worked primarily in the legal field and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the College of William and Mary.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Economics Director of Research, Dukakis Center
Job Titles:
- Program Associate
- Associate at the Crime
Alyssa Mendlein is a Program Associate at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab. In this role, she is helping community violence prevention and intervention programs in the Great Lakes region expand their research capacity to further organizational goals. She obtained her PhD in Criminal Justice at Temple University, where her dissertation focused on examining the relationship between incarceration and population health cross-nationally.
Prior to joining CJP, Alyssa worked as a Graduate Research Assistant on a variety of projects in Temple's Criminal Justice Department, involving qualitative and quantitative research in cybersecurity, policing, community violence, and reentry. She also has experience as a Research Analyst for a public opinion research firm, where she worked on project teams for a number of private and public sector clients, including local governments, private utility companies, and healthcare organizations. Alyssa also holds a BA in Psychology from Boston University and an MPhil in Criminological Research from the University of Cambridge.
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Andrea Barajas is an undergraduate student majoring in Criminology and Sociology, and minoring in Survey Research and Data Analysis. She is passionate about transformative juvenile justice and breaking the cycle of crime at the youth level.
In 2022, Andrea was selected for CJP's competitive fellowship program funded by the School of Arts and Science's Making a Difference in Global Communities grant. As a fellow, Andrea will be working with USAID/Mexico, looking at the impact of civic justice on recidivism and other outcomes for youth offenders in Mexico.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Sociology Director, Northwestern Network and Neighborhood Initiative / Northwestern University
Job Titles:
- Director
- Principal Investigator or Co - Principal Investigator
Anthony A. Braga is the Jerry Lee Professor of Criminology and the Director of the Crime and Justice Policy Lab in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. He collaborates with criminal justice, social service, and community-based organizations to produce high impact scholarship, randomized field experiments, and policy advice on the prevention of crime at problem places, the control of gang violence, and reductions in access to firearms by criminals. With colleagues, Braga has published numerous peer reviewed journal articles in top criminology and criminal justice journals such as Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Justice Quarterly, and the Journal of Quantitative Criminology; top medical and public health journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, and the American Journal of Public Health; and top sociology journals such as American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, and the Annual Review of Sociology. Braga has authored four books and edited nine volumes with top scholarly presses such as the National Academies Press, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press.
Braga has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on projects totaling more than $22 million in external funding from a variety of federal, state, and private grant-making institutions including the U.S. National Institute of Justice, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Arnold Ventures. He has served on four National Research Council committees, mostly recently serving on the Committee on Proactive Policing - Effects on Crime, Communities, and Civil Liberties. Braga is a fellow of the American Society of Criminology (ASC) and the 2021 recipient of its August Vollmer Award recognizing his contributions to crime prevention policy and practice. He is also a past president and fellow of the Academy of Experimental Criminology (AEC), and the 2014 recipient of its Joan McCord Award recognizing his commitment to randomized controlled experiments.
The practical value of his work in violence reduction in disadvantaged neighborhoods has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Civic Leadership Award (2004) presented by The Boston Foundation, the United States Attorney General's Award for Outstanding Contributions to Community Partnerships for Public Safety (2009), and the U.S. Department of Justice Project Safe Neighborhoods Research Partner of the Year Award (2010). Between 2007 and 2013, Braga served as Chief Policy Advisor to former Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis and worked with his command staff and line-level officers on award-winning community policing and crime prevention initiatives. Braga holds an M.P.A. from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in criminal justice from Rutgers University.
Job Titles:
- Janice and Julian Bers Assistant Professor of Criminology / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Ayanna Miller is a doctoral student at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University, originally from New York City. Ayanna's research interests include racial justice, policing, pretrial justice and evidence-based policy. Prior to arriving at Northeastern, she served as a research assistant at the Center for Policing Equity, as a Presidential Intern at the Brennan Center for Justice, and as a policy intern at the New York City Department of Corrections.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director of the Crime
Ben Struhl is the Executive Director of the Crime and Justice Policy Lab (CJP) at the University of Pennsylvania. In that role, he works with governments and non-profits around the world to promote the use of research evidence in solving health and safety challenges that are facing disadvantaged communities. CJP forms a bridge between science and implementation, with a focus on preventing crime and violence, reforming the criminal justice system, and collaborating with communities to ensure that policy is done in ways that respect and uplift constituents.
At CJP, Struhl oversees the strategy and operations of projects ranging from violence prevention to prosecutorial reform to tracking the sale of illegal guns in the US. Struhl manages major projects in cities including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Oakland, and San Francisco, and engages in national and international policy work with partners such as ATF and USAID.
Prior to his work at Penn, Struhl launched and was Executive Director of the Center on Crime and Community Resilience at Northeastern University, leading projects in seven US cities and ten countries across the Caribbean and South America. Before Northeastern, Struhl worked at MIT's Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) where he launched and managed the organization's new division on crime research, as well as serving as the policy lead on J-PAL's new North America office.
Struhl has also worked for the Mayor of Boston, Boston Public Schools, the Center for American Progress, and as a data analyst for Senator and then President Barack Obama. He has an M.P.P. from Georgetown University, and a B.A. from Brown University.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice
Brian Wade, Ph.D., is a Senior Data Scientist at the University of Pennsylvania's Crime and Justice Policy Lab. In this capacity, he manages much of the lab's qualitative research portfolio. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University-Newark, where his dissertation delved into the age-graded differences in gun violence involvement among high-risk Black men in Brooklyn and the Bronx, NY. He also holds a BA in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany.
Before joining the Crime and Justice Policy Lab, he conducted criminal justice policy research at the Urban Institute, opioid addiction management research at Columbia University, community-based violence reduction and illicit gun market research at Rutgers University, and illicit opioid market research at Northeastern University. His research findings have been featured in publications such as Criminology and Public Policy, the Journal of Urban Health, and Preventive Medicine.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Sociology Co - Director, Justice Lab / Columbia University
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor for Baltimore GVRS
Facciolo serves as Senior Advisor for the Group Violence Reduction Strategy in the Baltimore Police Department.
Prior, Facciolo was a civilian assistant chief in a Maryland police department and the deputy chief of strategic enforcement/strategic innovations at the Bronx District Attorney's Office, overseeing the county's violence reduction, opioid overdose, alternatives to incarceration, and strategic technology and partnerships.
Previously, Facciolo was a senior policy advisor at The White House and the US Department of Justice focusing on violence prevention, criminal justice reform, civil rights, and community engagement, and provided technical assistance domestically, in the Middle East, The Northern Triangle, South America, and Asia at the Center for Justice Innovation. He is a partner at The Consortium and Rothschild/Lawrence, a boutique consulting firm focusing on health, justice, and safety.
Facciolo is a graduate of the University of Delaware, Wilmington University, and Harvard University, where he is currently pursuing a Master of Liberal Arts in Government. He has worked on numerous local, state, and national political campaigns. Most recently, he served as a policy advisor to (now) Secretary Pete Buttigieg in his 2020 Presidential Campaign and as a policy committee member for the Biden/Harris 2020 Presidential Campaign.
Caroline La Rochelle is a Senior Program Associate at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab. In this role, she supports a variety of projects related to illegal firearms trafficking, neighborhood greening interventions, opioid harm reduction, and violence reduction in international settings.
Prior to joining CJP, La Rochelle worked at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's PolicyLab, the University of Pennsylvania Prevention Research Center, and the Philadelphia Mayor's Office of Education. She has worked closely with communities across Philadelphia, including many programs for youth in the Kensington area. La Rochelle graduated with a Master of Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing a Master of Legal Studies from the University of Arizona.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Sociology and Criminology and Criminal Justice
Job Titles:
- Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Professor in the Center for Urban Bioethics / Temple University
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Criminology / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law & Society Principal Fellow, Center for Evidence - Based Crime Policy / George Mason University
Job Titles:
- Program Associate
- Associate at the Crime
Ciara Tenney is a Program Associate at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab. Her work supports partners in Baltimore as they implement a revamped Group Violence Reduction Strategy.
Before joining CJP, Tenney obtained her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Criminal Justice from Northeastern University. During her studies at Northeastern, Tenney served as a research assistant on several projects focusing on areas such as correctional officer well-being, opiate use, and human labor trafficking. Tenney also holds a graduate certificate in Data Analytics from Northeastern University.
Job Titles:
- Master
- Graduate Research Assistant
Cynthia Harris is a Master's Student in the Department of Criminology. She graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Biology with concentrations in environmental and forensic sciences. After graduating, she worked as a marine biologist, where she conducted research that assisted Mallows Bay-Potomac River in becoming the first National Marine Sanctuary in 20 years.
After receiving her paralegal certification from the University of California, Irvine, Cynthia worked as a criminal defense paralegal, working with violent offenders and gang members, including cases involving capital punishment.
Cynthia's academic interests include the spatial analysis of crime in areas experiencing environmental crises, the manner in which unvalidated or improper forensic sciences take place in the courtroom, as well as the impact the coroner and medical examiner system has on wrongful convictions.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished University Professor
Job Titles:
- University Distinguished Professor of Law and Criminal Justice / Northeastern University
Job Titles:
- Bloomberg Professor of American Health in Violence Prevention / Johns Hopkins University
Job Titles:
- Professor of Law, Business Economics, and Public Policy / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Professor, Department of Criminal Justice Executive Director, National Network for Safe Communities / John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Job Titles:
- Distinguished Professor of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice
Job Titles:
- Project Coordinator
- Project Coordinator at the Crime
Deborah D'Orazi is a Project Coordinator at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab. In this role she is assisting partners in Baltimore build and implement GVRS (Group Violence Reduction Strategy). Prior to joining CJP, Deborah was a consultant for the Community Safety Initiatives team at Everytown for Gun Safety and served in the New York City Service Corps at the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice. A graduate of the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at CUNY Baruch and the Rutgers School of Social Work, she has interned at various organizations like the National Network for Safe Communities and specializes in the intersection of policy, trauma, and violence.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Research
Dr. Lisa Barao earned her Ph.D. in Criminology and Justice Policy from Northeastern University. Prior to joining the Crime and Justice Policy Lab, she was an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Westfield State University in Massachusetts.
Dr. Barao's research broadly concentrates on policing issues and urban gun violence policy and interventions. Her policing research has included organizational studies using surveys and interviews with officers to examine factors like internal procedural justice, job satisfaction, perceptions of internal support, and experiences of workplace discrimination and harassment. She has also explored the impacts of technology on police operations and effectiveness, focusing on body-worn cameras, CCTV, and real-time crime centers. Dr. Barao's research on gun violence includes analyses of local violence dynamics to inform intervention strategies; evaluations of police and community-based interventions; and analyses of homicide and nonfatal shooting investigations. She has conducted comprehensive violence problem analyses in numerous cities across the U.S. and she works with municipal, state, and federal agencies to provide guidance on data-informed, sustainable violence reduction strategies.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Eden Ralph (she/her) is a master's student in the Department of Criminology. She grew up in Charlotte, NC but now calls Raleigh, NC home. Prior to being a student at UPenn, Eden earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Elon University with minors in Criminal Justice and Sociology. Her research interests broadly include public policy and crime reduction, and she plans to earn a Ph.D. Eden enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time with her cat, Penny.
Job Titles:
- Gunnar Myrdal Assistant Professor of Economics / Tufts University
Job Titles:
- Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Director, Crime Analysis Initiatives / Northeastern University
Job Titles:
- Professor, Emergency Medicine Director, Violence Prevention Research Program / University of California
Job Titles:
- Principal Research Scientist / Northeastern University
Job Titles:
- Professor of Criminology and Statistics / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Graduate Program Director and Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice / Northeastern University
Job Titles:
- Gunnar Myrdal Assistant Professor of Economics / Tufts University
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- Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences / Harvard University
Job Titles:
- Director of Violence Reduction Policy and Programs
- Senior Advisor to the CJP
- Special Advisor for the Group Violence Reduction Strategy to the Mayor
Jeremy Biddle serves as a Senior Advisor to the CJP team on projects related to violence prevention in the US and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Biddle also serves as Special Advisor for the Group Violence Reduction Strategy to the Mayor and Police Commissioner of Baltimore City, and regularly collaborates with CJP there as part of the lab's effort to help the city develop a new violence prevention strategy.
Prior, Biddle was the Coordinator for the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), advancing the Agency's violence prevention efforts in Central America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and globally.
Over the years, Biddle has worked with a variety of non-profits and public sector organizations in the U.S. and Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on violence prevention, criminal justice reform, community engagement and rule of law. He is the Founding Executive Director of MetroPEACE, a boutique consulting firm with a global reach dedicated to reducing urban violence by fusing public safety, public health and civil rights and liberties.
Biddle holds a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University and a Master of Public Affairs from Sciences Po in Paris, as well as a B.A. in history from Columbia. He is fluent in English and Spanish
Job Titles:
- Professor of Criminal Justice / Temple University
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Coordinator for the CJP
Jessica Bimstein is the Senior Research Coordinator for the CJP. Prior to joining the CJP, Bimstein worked in the non-profit sector through the management of prisoner reentry programs and coordinated RCTs at the Institute of Living in Hartford Hospital. She has a specific interest in the intersection of criminal justice and mental health. Bimstein is published in journals such as Substance Use and Misuse and Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment.
Jessica graduated from the College of William & Mary with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology, Law, and Society.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Criminology and Sociology / University of Pennsylvania
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- Associate Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies and Director of the Center for Public Policy / Drexel University
Job Titles:
- Data Analyst
- Data Analyst With the Department of Criminology
Julia Reinhold is a Data Analyst with the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. She works in partnership with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office to research plea bargaining and the role of actors in the criminal justice system. She earned her bachelor's degree in Economics and International Affairs at the George Washington University. Prior to UPenn, Julia worked in economic consulting.
Job Titles:
- Program Associate
- Associate at the Crime
Laura Mutis is a Program Associate at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. In this role, she primarily helps evaluate programs and initiatives that focus on assisting justice involved individuals returning to their communities.
Before joining CJP, Mutis worked at the Center for Drug and Health Studies at the University of Delaware, where she worked alongside government and non-profit agencies to provide insight into reentry efforts, behavioral programs in prison, and human trafficking in the state of Delaware.
Mutis graduated with a Master of Science in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, and with undergraduate degrees from the University of Florida.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Criminology / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Marie is a Masters student in the Criminology program at UPENN. She completed her undergraduate studies at UCLA where she earned a Bachelors in Psychology, a Bachelors in Political Science (with a focus in American Politics), and a minor in Evolutionary Medicine. Her interests include behavioral and psychological profiling, (criminal) psychology of violent offenders, and homeland security/counterterrorism.
Job Titles:
- Master
- Graduate Research Assistant
Marisa Palmer is a Master's Candidate in the Department of Criminology. She comes to the program from a decade-long career as an award-winning video journalist with a focus on criminal justice and policing. Marisa is a listener at heart. She's captivated by experiences, stories, and projects that evoke empathy for people often misunderstood. She was most recently a producer for Vice News' domestic documentary unit, where she explored stories about race, politics, and environmental injustice. Prior to Vice News, Marisa was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where she studied the effects of police training programs in the U.S. and began developing a database that ranked training programs by quality, efficacy, and accessibility. Before Harvard, Marisa was a Senior Video Producer for Business Insider's News and Documentary team where she helped launch Facebook's first digital daily news program. Marisa won a Telly award for her reporting on Baltimore's police training programs, an NABJ Salute to Excellence award for a report on the making of Juneteenth into a federal holiday, and two Emmys for assisted reporting. Before arriving at Business Insider, Palmer worked for CBS News. She was formerly a board member for the New York Association of Black Journalists, an Emma Bowen Fellow, and a Hearst Producing Fellow. She is an alumnus of Syracuse University and holds a dual Bachelor's degree from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Marvin Rodas is an undergraduate student majoring in Criminology and minoring in Legal Studies & History and Cinema Studies. He is passionate about creating reform programs that deal with juvenile and exonerated justice, especially in the Latinx community.
Job Titles:
- Data Analytics Program Manager at the Crime
Wickizer is a Data Analytics Program Manager at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab embedded with the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office as part of the Baltimore Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS). In this position, Wickizer utilizes his knowledge of data and analytics to help inform prosecutors in their implementation of GVRS. Prior to joining the lab's Baltimore team, Wickizer worked with the Baltimore Police Department, where he held various positions from 2019 to 2024 including: Research Analyst, Information Technology Specialist, and Research Analyst Supervisor.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics / Cornell University
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- Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice / Northeastern University
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- Professor of Law Academic Director, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice / University of Pennsylvania
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- Terry Sanford Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Economics, and Sociology / Duke University
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Manager
- Program Manager at the Crime
Renée Contreras is a Program Manager at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab. In this role, she works with governments and non-profits to develop evidence-based policies and programs. Contreras manages CJP's international portfolio as well as research and policy work in Massachusetts. Prior to joining CJP, Contreras worked for YouthBuild International in Mexico and has served as an education consultant for international and human rights organizations including UNICEF, Saferworld, and Impunity Watch. Contreras is fluent in Spanish and is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also has a certificate in child protection from the Harvard François-Xavier Center for Health and Human Rights and a B.A. from Temple University, where she studied political science and international affairs.
Job Titles:
- Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences / Harvard University
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- Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice / University of Maryland
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- Founding Executive Director / University of Chicago
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Research Assistant
Saara Ghani is an undergraduate student at UPenn, pursuing a major in Criminology and a minor in Data Science and Analytics. She is passionate about examining the influence of technology in the criminal justice system and improving the re-entry process to reduce recidivism. Saara is working on a community violence reduction study to evaluate the efficacy of gun violence prevention in the Great Lakes region.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Sarah is a Masters of Criminology student who is interested in sexual violence and gun violence. She graduated from Rice University in 2020 and worked as a legal assistant prior to moving to Philadelphia. At the Crime and Justice Policy Lab Sarah works on Baltimore's Group Violence Reduction Strategy
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice / University of Maryland
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Associate
Stephen Douglas is a doctoral student at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Criminology and Justice Policy at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, and served as a police officer in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, prior to enrolling at Northeastern. His research interests primarily focus upon strategies of policing, police victimization and use of force, and situational crime prevention. Since joining Northeastern University, Stephen has contributed to the assessment of the Boston Police Department's Body Worn Camera program, and is continuing to work on various other projects involving local police and criminal justice agencies.
Job Titles:
- Terry Sanford Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Economics, and Sociology / Duke University
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- Associate Research Professor / University of Maryland
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- Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics, Sociology, and Criminology / University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Graduate Research Assistant
Wilson is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. He studied Economics in Peru and obtained a Master's degree in Comparative Development Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris. Before Penn, he worked as a researcher at GRADE (Peru) on issues related to policing, gender-based violence, and justice.
He is currently working on a randomized controlled trial evaluating a soccer-based program to enhance children's socio-emotional skills to change negative gender norms and reduce gender-based violence. He is also engaged in other projects, including assessing the impact of femicide news on help-seeking behavior and gender-based violence in Peru and evaluating the impact of adolescent curfews in the US.
Job Titles:
- Data Analytics Program Manager at the Crime
Evans is a Data Analytics Program Manager at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab embedded with the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office as part of the Baltimore Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS). Evans has years of experience as a data and project analyst, with a background in public health and epidemiology. With a Master's Degree in Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Evans has worked with many different topics including suicide ideation among veterans to minority financing practices. Throughout his career, he has applied advanced analytical techniques to analyze complex datasets and drive policy solutions.