ABOUT ME
Daniel Lawrence, PhD, is a senior research scientist at the Center for Justice Research and Innovation within the Institute of Public Research at the CNA Corporation. The Center for Justice Research and Innovation (JRI) works throughout the justice system, providing training and technical assistance, conducting research, and supporting organizational reform in agencies and jurisdictions across the country.
Before coming to CNA, Dr. Lawrence worked at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center and RTI International’s Policing Research Program, where he led multiple evaluations of policing technologies and practices. At the Center for Research in Law and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dr. Lawrence was the project manager of the National Police Research Platform, a large-scale study to advance knowledge and practice in American policing. He also served as a research consultant for two Illinois criminal justice research agencies, performing analyses on criminal history record information for recidivism, disproportionate youth of color contact, and Illinois Senate bill impacts, among others.
EXPERIENCE
Dr. Lawrence has been on numerous criminal justice-related projects since 2008 in multiple roles, such as principal investigator, project manager, statistician, analyst, and data collector. His research interests are primarily in the law enforcement field, specifically on police technology (body-worn cameras, gunshot detection technology (ShotSpotter), public surveillance systems, machine learning/AI, and more), police legitimacy and procedural justice, police screening and hiring practices, and community policing. Dr. Lawrence’s objective is to produce high-quality empirical research using innovative approaches that are grounded in criminological theory. Dr. Lawrence has led and supported grants and projects from several federal agencies including the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and National Institute of Justice (NIJ), as well as projects with foundation funding from Arnold Ventures and the MacArthur Foundation. Dr. Lawrence is experienced in using rigorous evidence-based approaches, and quantitative and qualitative analysis to assess law enforcement agency operations and organizational reform.
EDUCATION
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PhD in Criminology, Law, and Justice, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2014
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Survey Research and Methodology Concentration
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MA in Criminology, Law, and Justice, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2011
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BS in Criminal Justice, Northeastern University, 2009
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Anthropology Minor
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HIGHLIGHTS
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15 years of experience in evaluations of criminal justice programs
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$6.7m career research grants
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Expert on police technology & practice
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Expert on mixed-method research design