Crime and Justice Policy Lab
Marisa Palmer is a Communications Specialist at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Crime and Justice Policy Lab, focusing on the impact of street cleaning on gun violence in Philadelphia. Earlier experience includes serving as an Instructor at Harvard University, where Marisa taught video storytelling for social media, and as a Gwen Ifill Fellow at the International Women's Media Foundation. Marisa's production work at VICE News involved pitching and directing original stories, while previous roles at Insider encompassed senior producing longform documentaries and managing a daily business show on Facebook Watch. Marisa holds a Master's degree in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from Syracuse University, and has completed additional education at Harvard University and Syracuse University London.
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Crime and Justice Policy Lab
Based in the Department of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, we partner with governments and non-profits to find research-based solutions to preventing crime, advancing the justice system, and other complex social problems. Our focus is on the needs and priorities of the partners and communities we work with—we believe good policy has to be responsive to and supported from the neighborhood level. Why Research? Many communities suffer from problems that cause sharp inequalities of opportunity: we have strong evidence that where individuals grow up directly influences their income, education, and likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system, regardless of factors such as family history. We believe that better policies can change the dynamics of communities and improve the prospects of vulnerable people in society. Unfortunately, many policymakers believe they have little choice but to stick with "tried and true" approaches that have failed to make significant progress, or have harsh negative consequences. Research is one way to convincingly demonstrate the potential of new ideas.