CJP has a very robust volunteer program that promises to engage our volunteers so that they can have a significant impact in our efforts!
Leadership in the age of transparency must be spread out widely. The Chicago Justice Project sustains a broad network of supporters who take interest in the ripple effects of their day-to-day commitments. Together, we foster change as we connect, compare and assess the crime and safety activities influencing
the qualities of life in our communities.
Our mission is focused on taking data created in the daily operations of local criminal justice agencies and turning it in actionable information for communities. To assist us in our work we have created a very active and robust volunteer program that provides opportunities for individuals and groups to become actively engaged in our mission by contributing just a few hours a week. Our program allows volunteers
to work from anywhere they can connect to the Internet.
If you are a student or a professional who is interested in improving society’s access to justice related information and keeping Chicago’s law enforcement agencies accountable to the public they serve, come learn about how to get involved. We also have an active program for corporations and law firms that are interested in facilitating a role for their employees to give back to their communities by spending a few hours a week supporting CJP’s efforts. For more information download our volunteer program document.
Become a Volunteer today!
Current Volunteer Project
We have created the digital architecture to capture reporting on crime and justice related issues from
a variety of media sources in Chicago. While this is a technological achievement the data is not in a
format that allows us to create actionable information. What’s needed to transition this data from raw
to actionable is for our volunteers to assess each media report to determine its applicability to our project
and to code the contents.
How it works
- Volunteers login to CJP’s website
- Review the media reports
- Judge the applicability of each report
- Code the contents of relevant reports
Volunteer Responsibilities – Individually or as a group
- Make a 6 month commitment
- Attend a 30 minute training – we can come to your office
- Spend 3-5 hours a week reviewing and coding articles
- Attend a single 60 minute feedback meeting with CJP staff
Skills
No advanced computer skills are required for volunteers to participate in our project. Volunteers need only basic computer skills and access to the internet.
Results
Volunteer coding will be used to train algorithms to do the coding without human intervention. Once
the automated coding is live we will be making the results of that coding available on our site, using
the results to produce research reports analyzing the contents of the reporting, and assisting advocates
to engage the media to push for more informative and less sensational coverage.
Please direct any questions about volunteering to getinvolved@chicagojustice.org