Research

Journal articles

• Does LED street lighting reduce crime? Evidence from a staggered large-scale retrofitting program. 2026. Journal of Quantitative Criminology.
  - Preprint.

• The Role of Ambient Light in Shaping Public Safety: Evidence from Daylight Saving Time. 2026. Criminology.
  - Preprint. 

• The Long-term Effects of Structural Discrimination on Public Safety: The 1930s Redlining Maps. 2026. Crime and Delinquency.
  - Preprint.

• Do Urban Greenways Reduce Crime? A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Atlanta Beltline, with M. Dylan Spencer. 2025. Journal of Quantitative Criminology.
  – Preprint.

• Does Proactive Policing Really Increase Major Crime? Accounting for an Ecological Fallacy, with Aaron Chalfin and Morgan C. Williams, Jr. 2024. Journal of Comments and Replications in Economics, Volume 3.
  – Open access version.
  – Replication code and data: ZBW Journal Data Archive.

• Place-based approaches to reducing violent crime hot spots: A review of the evidence on public health approaches, with John M. MacDonald, Aaron Chalfin, and Alex Knorre. 2024. Aggression and Violent Behavior, Volume 78.
  – Preprint.

• Does urban development influence crime? Evidence from Philadelphia’s new zoning regulations, with John M. MacDonald. 2024. Journal of Urban Economics, Volume 142.
  – Preprint.
  – Video presentation: Penn Grad Talks.

• Overdose Prevention Centers, Crime, and Disorder in New York City, with Aaron Chalfin and Brandon del Pozo. 2023. JAMA Network Open 6(11):e2342228.
  – Open access version.
  – Replication code and data: Harvard Dataverse.
  – Media coverage (selected): New York Times, Vice News, New York Daily News, Gothamist, JAMA Network Open Conversations.

• Can Deterrence Persist? Long-Term Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Street Lighting, with Sarah Tahamont, Jason Lerner, and Aaron Chalfin. 2022. Criminology & Public Policy 21(4): 865-891.
  – Preprint.
  – Media coverage: CNN, The Atlantic.

• Testing Public Policy at the Frontier: The Effect of the $15 Minimum Wage on Public Safety in Seattle, with Aaron Chalfin. 2021. Criminology & Public Policy 20(2): 291-328.
  – Preprint.
  – Video presentation: CrimCon 2020.
  – Media coverage: American Society of Criminology Press Release, EurekAlert.

Working papers and in progress*

• Brighter nights, safer communities? Assessing a city-wide street lighting intervention*, with Alex Knorre.

• NIMBY or YIMBY? Substance Disorder Treatment and Local Crime*, with Aaron Chalfin, Brandon del Pozo, and Jonathan Cantor.

• Effects of Mental Health Treatment Services on Neighborhood Safety and Health*, with Bokyung Kim and Da Xu.

• Remote Work and the Reorganization of Urban Crime Opportunity*, with M. Dylan Spencer.

• Illuminating Crime Prevention: Evidence from Washington, DC's Street Lighting Upgrade (draft), with M. Dylan Spencer.

• Banks Against Crime: The Impact of Home Mortgage on Neighborhood Crime (draft).

• Do Place-based Capital Investment Policies Influence Public Safety? Evidence from the Opportunity Zones Program (draft).
  – First prize, American Society of Criminology 2022 Gene Carte Student Paper Award