The Research and Evaluation Center (JohnJayREC) has been a prominent research center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice since 1975. Our mission is to produce credible research evidence that can be accessed and understood by many audiences, not only researchers.

We aspire to create research evidence characterized by:

• Relevance: Research relevant to the needs of communities, practitioners, and policymakers.
• Rigor: Research conducted with integrity and transparency.
• Impact: Accessible research with a positive impact on community well-being and the justice system.*

We evaluate prevention strategies, test the effectiveness of interventions, and analyze efforts to improve the impact and equity of justice systems. We also help non-researchers understand the goals and methods of research and the critical roles played by process measures, performance indicators, and outcome estimates.

Since 2010, we have managed projects with combined budgets of $47 Million. While our work may generate academic publications, the Center’s core mission is to produce open-access research for a more diverse audience. The Center draws on the expertise of John Jay faculty and staff to advance our collective understanding of public safety challenges in partnership with policymakers, community organizations, and practitioners.

* The name “justice system” has always been aspirational. We do not embrace the alternative name “legal system,” which derives from a presumption that system-related harms and injustices are inevitable and permanent.