Dr. Scot Wortley
Senior Consultant, Justice and Policing
Dr. Wortley is one of Canada's most well-known researchers on justice, law enforcement and corrections.
He is currently Professor of Criminology, University of Toronto. In 2001, he was appointed Justice and Law Domain Leader at the
Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement. He has demonstrated broad capacity for turning research into
improved organizational
performance, and better addressing needs of key populations such as racialized minorities and Indigenous people.
In 2007, Dr. Wortley was appointed by Metropolis to the position of National Priority Leader for research on Immigration, Justice,
Policing and Security. He has conducted research on youth violence as the Research Director for both the Toronto
District School Board's School Community Safety Advisory Panel and the Ontario Government's Roots of Youth Violence Inquiry. From
2009 to 2012, Dr. Wortley was lead evaluator for Prevention Intervention Toronto (PIT) - a major gang prevention program funded by
Public Safety Canada. In 2017, he consulted with Ontario's Anti-Racism Directorate to develop Standards and Guidelines for the
Collection and Dissemination of Race-based Data within the Public Sector. Dr. Wortley has been published widely in journals such
as the American Journal of Sociology, Police and Society; Law and Society Review; Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal
Justice; Journal of Youth and Adolescence; and British Journal of Criminology.
Dr. Wortley has extensive experience with program and operational evaluation, and producing results aiding organizational improvements.
Over the past decade, he has conducted 14 major evaluation projects, including: Toronto John School Diversion Program, Prevention
Intervention Toronto (a multi-million dollar Toronto gang prevention program funded by Public Safety Canada), The Jane-Finch
Positive Alternatives to Youth Gangs Program (operated by the San Romanoway Revitalization Association), the Cultural Competency
Training Program for Justice Workers and The Youth Justice Education Program (operated by the African Canadian
Legal Clinic). Dr. Wortley also produced a major report that reviewed the effectiveness of various youth crime prevention programs
for the Ontario Government's Roots of Youth Violence Inquiry.
Dr. Wortley has participated in a number of SPR projects over the past decade. Most recently, he was the lead for SPR's 2018 Evaluation
of the Gang Risk Assessment Instrument (GRAI), for the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services; and Assessment of
Workplace Stress in Ontario Youth Corrections Facilities, for the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services (2018-2019).