iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

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!

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

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

sciencedirect.com

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

You're right. I think the dark colored basemap is distorting the color scheme of the hexagons and legend (making everything darker). Thanks for catching this! We'll fix this.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ah. When you scroll your cursor over the map, a box pops up displaying the ward history of the block your mouse is hovering over. It’s easier to see on a desktop or laptop.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

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/

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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

"the more we dug into Rubin’s claims and data, the more we realized that the assessments should not be kept confidential. The claims were too extreme, the institutions behind it were too prominent, and...media attention to the...project and to sociology’s supposed 'politicization' was too immense"

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

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

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The DSR Network @thedsrnetwork.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

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

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Louise Seamster @louiseseamster.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

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.

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Violet Miller @vimiller.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

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.

chicago.suntimes.com

Illinois suburbs halt Flock use, suspend officers and review policy amid alleged improper use

Homer Glen announced Monday that it was suspending the use of Flock cameras within its borders pending an investigation after a Will County sheriff’s deputy was placed on administrative leave amid all...

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Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

An important thing to know about the videos of LAPD brutalizing protesters and press Including the one I just saw of several repeatedly running their horses over a man on the ground in a way that easily could kill him Is how many reform grifters portray LAPD as a shining example to the country

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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 31/08/2026

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)

wesh.com

All license plate readers must be removed from state-maintained roads, FDOT says

All license plate readers must now be removed from state-maintained roads, the Florida Department of Transportation said in a memo obtained by WESH 2 News.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

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...

wbez.org

Flock license plate readers turn Chicago suburbs into ground zero for bitter fight over surveillance

Cops have been accused of tapping into Flock's sprawling network to stalk people, while activists have been charged with vandalizing the company's cameras. But as some municipalities have jettisoned t...

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

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

robvargas.com

Shows — Rob Vargas

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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

"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."

organizingmythoughts.org

Woke What? Let's Be Fucking Serious

Our politics are not the politics that have detached this country from reality, or normalized increasingly inhuman policies.

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

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

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Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Well done to the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County State's Attorney for working to make sure that people without permits avoid responsible gun disposal

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

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.

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Jim Daley @jimdaleywrites.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

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.

chicago.suntimes.com

Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan calls gun case against Chicago anti-violence volunteer a 'travesty'

Duncan runs Chicago CRED, which works to prevent shootings. He says volunteer Nakia Smith, arrested in a Far South Side police station in 2023, has been "fighting for the good." Smith, a convicted fel...

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

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.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Threatened the greater Chicago business community must feel by social movements demanding accountability for products that do harm or are ineffective.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

A straight out the gate promise to bring back an ineffective tech sounds like a move someone with a history of bad leadership decisions would make. I could think of many better ways to approach the issue than a simple yes/no on SS, but i think this goes to show how…

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

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.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

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...

science.org

When trust building looks like surveillance: Public polarization toward Chicago policing

Experimental exposure to a police trust-building initiative widened gaps in police trust and support for racial equity policies.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

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

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Lucy Parsons Labs @lucyparsonslabs.com · 20/07/2026

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

library.kansas.watch

ALPR Abuse Library — Kansas Watch

A publicly maintained index of news articles documenting abuses, misuses, and civil liberties concerns related to Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs).

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

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

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David Brady @davebrady72.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

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

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

BTW - if anyone wants to explore the data or replicate our work. All data and code are available here: github.com/uchicago-jus...

github.com

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Second, using 911 calls in response to shots fired would have rendered us (rightfully) vulnerable to the critique of inflating our results. 911 calls about shots fired are a flawed measure. Not everyone calls. When they do, it's probably serious. Priority 1 calls was the fairer measure.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Some asked the great question of why we didn't include response times to shots fired. Two reasons: 1) the city turned off all microphones in September 2024, hence there were no SS alerts to study. Had the city staggered the decommissioning, we could have instrumented that, but it didn't.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

UPDATE - We got some good questions about seasonality, and added a map to the study website comparing response times in the first 9 months of 2025 to first 9 months of 2024. The change in response times is more modest (2 minute improvement on average), but the overall trend still holds.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Good question. Short answer: I don't know. I wish the data for the workforce allocation study were public to answer this.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

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...

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

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."

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Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Recall: CPD knew this Saturday. The Cook State's Attorney likely knew it that same day but certainly by Monday. It's now Friday afternoon. Snelling and Burke have allowed/encouraged the political fallout about pretrial release to proceed w/o informing the public, Burke blaming electronic monitoring

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

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...

pilsencommunitybooks.com

Pilsen Community Books

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s. e. smith @sesmith.lol · 22/03/2026

Squeezed by data centers' relentless demand for electricity, a Nevada energy company just said it's going to stop supplying energy to Tahoe. The city has a year to figure out how to meet 75% of its energy needs without it.

calmatters.org

Lake Tahoe isn’t sure where it’s power will come from after the next ski season

The area’s longtime power supplier, NV Energy, will cut off the region next year. It has said data centers are driving “unprecedented” demand.

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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

What's missing? The public. Decisions about whether AI can surveil American citizens or autonomously deploy lethal force are being settled in a contract dispute. No Congress. No democratic deliberation. No accountability. We've outsourced questions about the use of force to a corporate negotiation.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Some of crime lab's past claims, 1) An increase in gun-carrying drove the 2020 spike in violent crime, 2) Shotspotter saves lives. Manufacturing certainty for powerful. Manufacturing doubt for the less powerful. www.chicagotribune.com/2021/04/02/d...

chicagotribune.com

Data Points: Illegal gun carrying in Chicago spiked in 2020 — and deadly violence followed

One of the most striking changes in crime in Chicago over the past year is something few people are talking about. It’s not the utterly tragic 55% increase in homicides in 2020 compared with …

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Crime was already trending downward when the ICE influx began, and when you map where they were active, they weren’t actually present in most of Chicago’s high crime areas.

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Robert Vargas @robvargas.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

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.

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