State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

The Power of Networking in Reforming Criminal Justice

Governing: Criminal-justice reformers are working tirelessly to create a system that reduces incarceration while maintaining safety by restoring police-community relations, reimagining what incarceration should be, reducing time spent in jail for those awaiting trial and designing novel crisis intervention teams to help divert the mentally ill into treatment. There is no doubt that the need for reform and innovation is urgent.

Data will increasingly play a crucial role in making these efforts successful. The application of new computer-aided statistical methods -- often referred to as data science -- to the vast "big data" storehouse of public datasets can help with understanding past performance and even with foretelling future outcomes, such as predicting crimes and recidivism. When analyzed and used appropriately, data allows for a better understanding and segmentation of relevant populations, matching people to programs more effectively, and measuring what works.

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