Aaron Chalfin

University of Pennsylvania Website

Aaron Chalfin is an Associate Professor of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.

Voting History

Reducing gun violence

Taking into account both potential implementation challenges and expected efficacy, investing in police-led targeted enforcement directed at places and persons at high risk for gun crime (e.g.,\"hot spot\" policing; gang enforcement) would reduce gun violence.

Vote Confidence
Strongly Agree 8
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 7
Comments

Gun violence is highly concentrated among a small number of people and places and so highly-targeted approaches can potentially pay large dividends. Implemented poorly, this approach is potentially accompanied by high costs. But, when it comes to improving public safety, it is also the strategy that has the greatest evidence behind it.

Taking into account both potential implementation challenges and expected efficacy, investing in police-led focused deterrence programs (clearly communicating “carrots and sticks” to local residents identified as high risk, followed by targeted surveillance and enforcement with some community-based support for those who desist from crime) would reduce gun violence.

Vote Confidence
Agree 5
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 6
Comments

The available evidence for these approaches is mostly positive but it is exclusively quasi-experimental. There's likely to be wide variation in effectiveness depending on the quality of implementation.

Taking into account both potential implementation challenges and expected efficacy, investing in purely community-led violence-interruption programs (community-based outreach workers try to mediate and prevent conflict, without police involvement) would reduce gun violence.

Vote Confidence
Neutral/No Opinion 3
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Neutral/No Opinion 5
Comments

These approaches have been around for many years. The available evidence, all quasi-experimental, is very mixed.. The quality of implementation figures to be very important here and so scalability is an eternal question. As long as the programs are inexpensive, it makes sense to continue to support innovation in this area because if the approach works, it's a wonderful idea. But this is a hard approach to count on based on what we know today.