Katz served as a member of the Council’s Task Force on Policing.
Walter Katz is director of policy at the Innocence Project. He brings over two decades of experience improving community safety and criminal justice reform with a background spanning government, private sector, and philanthropic leadership.
Katz began his career as a public defender in Southern California and later served as the police auditor for San Jose and as deputy chief of staff for public safety in the Chicago Mayor’s Office. He has held leadership roles in philanthropy and the startup tech industry with a focus on the intersection of the criminal legal system and emerging technology. A former Open Society Foundations Leadership in Government fellow, Katz has published widely on justice reform and sits on the boards of two Chicago nonprofits and the advisory board of a venture capital firm.
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