Robert Vargas

Right, so, male influencers are being sent out to tell Black people that resisting data centers is wrong actually because people don't understand how to really measure their water use. It’s an appeal to scientific expertise intended to intimidate Black people.

It's an estimate based on previous years' fringe formulae from the Dept. of Finance, so, grains of salt all 'round, but I think this is closer to the real cost of service for each department's workforce than anything else floating around out there. And the effects are pretty striking:

One of the most cited studies supporting ShotSpotter was an op-ed vetted by the Tribune whose results were not statistically significant and published by a lab hired to initially operate ShotSpotter. Expect more of this tech-washing in the years to come. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/10/17/e...

Went on Chicago Tonight to talk about our new paper on Chicago's Redistricting History. news.wttw.com/2026/09/29/n...

Inspired to see Mexican-American Artist Vincent Valdez on this list of MacArthur Fellows this year. An incredible incredible artist. I've been following his work for years. So well-deserved!

Here is a link to publication (it's open access): "Settler Colonialism and Community Protection from Redistricting." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

NEW REPORT - We digitized every ward map in Chicago history and discovered pockets of the city that never changed wards. Is your block one of them? Look up your address on our interactive map and read about the latest UCJP study. uchicago-justice-project.github.io/redistricting/

Proud of my colleagues for responding to a disingenuous attack on the discipline of sociology. These are worth reading and sharing widely.

Top AI researchers are increasingly convinced that AI is about to kill us all, so why isn’t our President? @alondra.bsky.social joins @djrothkopf.bsky.social to analyze where the truth really lies and how concerned we should all really be. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d... youtu.be/pzji2H3pilA

yet another case of this admin using concepts against themselves—here appropriating fundamental cause theory and social determinants of health to talk about ED as a “root cause of infertility”, rather than preventing infant mortality.

A growing epidemic of alleged police abuse of Flock's vast surveillance system has led Homer Glen to (for now) halt plate reader use within its borders. West Chicago, Channahon and the Will County sheriff all have officers on leave for alleged unauthorized searches of license plate-tracking data.

There is growing national momentum against ALPR mass surveillance. In the past year, dozens of cities have ended their contracts with Flock and other vendors. In the past week, Florida has ordered the removal of ALPRs from some roads, and Texas has ended its funding of city ALPRs. (1/2)

I can't help but observe that news outlet concerns over "causal claims" in studies about surveillance technology effects (like in our "After ShotSpotter" study) suddenly disappear when Flock's marketing team says license plate readers = less crime/more arrests. www.wbez.org/public-safet...

Announcing "FIELD NOTES" - A new group art show featuring works by Robert Vargas, Sebastián Hidalgo, Bibiana Saucedo, Alex Wilson & Mario Mena. Opening Oct 2, 6-9pm at Dragonfly Gallery (2436 W. Madison). Run through Oct 31. More info here: robvargas.com/shows

"The left does not need to pursue its own exoneration in this moment. There is no reason to indulge the fantasy that we governed the nation during these recent, disastrous years, or that our country's brief flirtation with racial justice was an unthinkable disaster with countless innocent victims."

“What is with ex Obama people” is a question that should be put in wikipedia

I’d add the consolidation/efficiency argument never gets applied to police or tech. Shotspotter advocates say “But if it saves one life, it’s worth the it!” Imagine if that logic were applied to health care infrastructure, teachers, CVI, or any life saving aspect of the safety net.

Cook County SA Eileen O'Neill Burke's office is moving forward with prosecuting a violence-prevention volunteer who was arrested by CPD after he tried to turn in a gun at a police station. The man spent 7 months in Cook County Jail for his effort; trial begins next week.

The coupling of contradictory pledges for efficiency + more policing has happened enough times that it’s hard to not simply call this racialized neoliberalism. And its power seems to come from how many people take this as the norm.

Chicago Mayoral candidates’ position on shotspotter is a good litmus test for who is going to let AI “move fast and break things” at the expense of communities and taxpayers.

Had a great conversation with Ben Joravsky about knowledge politics about crime and tech in Chicago. Check it out below. www.thebenjoravskyshow.com/robert-varga...

A great new study on the effect of CPD’s sentiment dashboard, which increases trust in police among white respondents and decreases trust among Black respondents. This complicates the idea of investing in data dashboards. www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

A reason why the study of culture and propaganda is just as important as behavioral science for studying public safety.

Want to see a public collection of all the times cops have been busted abusing Flock systems to stalk exes, spy on protests, or deport migrants? You can check it out here 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 HT @deflock library.kansas.watch

I'll be giving a virtual talk at Chi Hack Night July 21st @7pm on what Chicago can learn from the ShotSpotter debate to strengthen its civic-tech infrastructure in the AI era. You can sign up here. chihacknight.org/events/2026/...

For those interested in improving tech procurement in Chicago, check out the work of @hbwhbwhbw.bsky.social

RFP: The Historical Political Economy of Taxation and Regulation. Conference and journal special issue opportunity!

NEW REPORT: After Chicago shut down ShotSpotter in Sept. 2024, CPD response times to priority 1 calls improved by an average of 4.2 minutes. Read more here: uchicago-justice-project.github.io/chicago_crim...

Tonight, at Pilsen Books, Stuart Schader and I will be talking about his new book "Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves."

For anyone in government or the nonprofit sector anticipating the AI avalanche on the way to automate government - READ THIS BOOK. a.co/d/02DLtvJA

Mark your calendars - On Wednesday May 13th at 7pm, I'll be at Pilsen Community Books with Historian Stuart Schrader to discuss his new book "Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves." Come check it out. pilsencommunitybooks.com/events/20260...

Important to note that these declines happened without a snap curfew and without restoring shotspotter. This will be crucial to remember when some elected officials try to seize on the next moral panic to pour more taxpayer money to fund bad crime-fighting ideas.

Trump declares war on state AI laws, including a law I passed to ensure transparency of AI safety protocols. He’s doing so purportedly to promote U.S. AI “dominance.” Of course, he just authorized chip sales to China & Saudi Arabia: the exact opposite of ensuring U.S. dominance.

Some more great work on the privatized world of police psuedoscience.

This is one story on lisence plate readers. A quick search about other surveillance (especially police access to databases) will reveal this is a major problem for stalking and gendered violence. With all the new data streams going into lookup tools these days, this problem will only get worse.

Turns out much of the great research on ShotSpotter was the result of a CPD FOIA mistake. I wrote about how this signals the need for reforming how Chicago does business with tech, especially with so much AI tools for government on the way. chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/...