Brandon Johnson, a Cook County Commissioner-elect, wrote an opinion piece for Crain’s Chicago Business citing research by Adler University. Johnson argues that proposals to address carjacking focus public spending on incarceration instead of community investments that would prevent crime. In his argument, he cites incarceration data from Chicago’s Million Dollar Blocks, created in partnership with Adler University.
“I live in Austin, and since 2005, Illinois has spent $550 million to incarcerate the residents from my neighborhood alone, according to ‘Million Dollar Blocks,’ a study by the Chicago Justice Project and Adler University. Why can’t we get those kind of dollars to provide employment, education, affordable housing and health care?” Johnson argued.
Read the Crain’s opinion piece, “Want to stop carjacking? Invest in poor neighborhoods.”