Paige Thompson is a senior research associate in the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where she works on projects related to policing and crime prevention. Her research interests include human trafficking, juvenile justice issues, community-based crime reduction initiatives, and the intersection of mental health and the justice system.

Before joining Urban, Thompson was a graduate research assistant at the Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University, where she worked on an action-research project that examined the use of an on-site mental health treatment referral system to improve police response to mental health calls.

Thompson graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and women, gender, and sexuality. She received her master’s degree in criminology, law, and society with a concentration in policy and practice from George Mason University.