Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for youth ages 1-19, eclipsing motor vehicle accidents, drug overdoses, and accidents. This violence claims lives, fills prisons, and undermines momentum for criminal justice reforms.
Policymakers, practitioners, and the public need answers now. The Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction (“the VRC”) provides solutions by combining rigorous research with practical know-how.
With an emphasis on community violence perpetrated with firearms, the VRC gathers the most rigorous research, synthesizes it, and then makes it available to all in accessible, easy-to-use formats. It also provides practical instruction to federal, state, and especially local leaders on how to choose, apply, and align the right combination of anti-violence strategies for their jurisdiction.
Our mission is simple: we seek to save lives by stopping violence using science. We pursue this goal guided by three principles:
- Scientific Rigor. Leveraging academic expertise, we emphasize strategies supported by strong evidence of effectiveness.
- Real-World Relevance. Leveraging practitioner experience, we stress the sound implementation of strategies in the real world.
- Independence. We are nonpartisan, with no financial or other interests in the strategies we recommend.
All VRC products and services are provided free – we do not charge those who want help and are similarly committed to saving lives.
The VRC is part of the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland. The department was established in 1969 and has become the #1 ranked criminology doctoral program in the United States.
Our Team
Thomas Abt is the VRC’s Founding Director and an associate research professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Abt teaches, studies, and advises on the use of evidence-informed approaches for reducing violence in the United States and globally. He is the author of Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence - and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets. Abt’s work is cited in academic journals and featured in media outlets including the Atlantic, Economist, New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and National Public Radio. His TED talk on community violence has been viewed more than 200,000 times.
Abt also serves a Senior Fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice in Washington, DC, where he serves on its Crime Trends Working Group. Previously he chaired CCJ’s Violent Crime Working Group, a diverse group of leaders dedicated to addressing the most pressing challenges concerning crime, violence, and justice. Prior to the Council, he worked as a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy and Law Schools.
Before Harvard, Abt served as Deputy Secretary for Public Safety to Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York, where he oversaw all criminal justice, homeland security, and emergency management agencies. During his tenure, he led the development of New York’s GIVE (Gun-Involved Violence Elimination) Initiative, which employs evidence-based, data-driven approaches to reduce gun violence.
Before New York, Abt served as Chief of Staff to the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked with the nation’s principal criminal justice grant-making and research agencies to integrate evidence, policy, and practice. While there, Abt played a lead role in establishing the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, a network of federal agencies and local communities working together to reduce youth and gang violence.
Over the course of his career, Abt has advised hundreds of public officials on the use of evidence-informed anti-crime strategies, both domestically and abroad.
Rod Brunson provides the VRC with strategic guidance and assistance. A Professor of Criminology, Brunson is an award-winning scholar, prolific author, and sought after speaker who is widely known for his expertise regarding the impact of concentrated neighborhood disadvantage, police-community relations, qualitative research methods, and youth violence – specifically, youths’ experiences in neighborhood contexts, with a special focus on the interactions of race, class, and gender, and their relationship to criminal justice practices. He is also a Fellow of the American Society of Criminology.
Brunson has published more than fifty articles, book chapters, and essays on criminal justice policies and crime control practices. His scholarship appears in numerous prominent academic journals such as Crime & Delinquency, Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Sociological Quarterly, and the Urban Affairs Review. He is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards, including the New Scholar Award, American Society of Criminology, Division on People of Color and Crime, 2008 and the Tory J. Caeti Outstanding Young Scholar Memorial Award, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Juvenile Justice Section, 2010.
Elliot Masouredis works as program coordinator for the VRC. Masouredis obtained a BA in political science from UC Berkeley, earning highest honors for his senior thesis on the influence of community violence on public opinions about police defunding in Oakland. Masouredis was selected as a 2022-2023 John Gardner Fellow and is currently placed with the VRC and the Council on Criminal Justice.
Sarah Silberman is a program manager with the VRC. Silberman is also a doctoral student in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Maryland, College Park. Prior to Maryland, she received her MS of Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, where she worked as a Research Assistant for the Penn Crime and Justice Policy Lab. Silberman has also worked on programs designed for group violence reduction and has written policy recommendations to address intergenerational participation in violence. Her research interests include studying sexual and gender-based violence as well community gun violence.
Torri Sperry is a program manager with the VRC. Sperry earned her master’s degree in Criminology & Criminal Justice in 2021 from the University of Maryland, College Park and is expected to complete her Ph.D. in 2024. She has assisted on a variety of research projects including evaluations of Baltimore Police Department’s consent decree compliance, assessing residents’ perceptions of police functions, and drafting model policies for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Sperry’s research interests include addressing inequalities in the criminal justice system, making evidence-based advancements in policing, and reducing community violence.
Our Supporters
Arnold Ventures
Pew Charitable Trusts
Other Violence-Related Work at UMD
Maryland Crime Research and Innovation Center (MCRIC)
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)
