Tag: Statistics

Spotlight on Criminal Justice: Supporting Law Enforcement and Safer Communities – May – R Street Institute

Make sure to checkout the links in this article. Excellent resources.

Spotlight on Criminal Justice: Supporting Law Enforcement and Safer Communities – May – R Street Institute
— Read on www.rstreet.org/commentary/spotlight-on-criminal-justice-supporting-law-enforcement-and-safer-communities-may/

Research at the DAO – PhilaDAO Data Dashboard

Research at the DAO
The DATA Lab at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office (DAO) uses police, court, and other data streams to support a wide range of research on the criminal legal system. Following are DAO DATA Lab grant-funded partnerships, DAO research publications and published and ongoing studies with research partners. We work with external partners across all phases of the research arc to help develop impactful interventions, evaluations, and scholarship. This includes discussions around data sharing, data use agreements, and facilitating research involving Assistant District Attorneys (ADAs) and DAO personnel.
— Read on data.philadao.com/Research

Racial Disparities, Total Traffic Stops in Vermont Dropped During COVID But Are Again Increasing Study Finds

Black and Hispanic drivers in Vermont continue to be stopped and searched at higher rates than white drivers. That’s according to new research examining thousands of traffic stops across Vermont.  

The research paper is the latest update to an ongoing analysis of racial disparities in traffic policing data across Vermont led by University of Vermont Economics Professor Stephanie Seguino, Cornell Professor Nancy Brooks and Data Analyst Pat Autilio.  

Previous statewide analyses were released in 2017 and 2021. They spurred conversation and, in some cases, racial bias training at some Vermont law enforcement agencies.  This update adds data from 2020-23 and examines both the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to investigate whether Black, Hispanic and Asian drivers in Vermont face racial disparities in traffic policing.
— Read on www.uvm.edu/gund/news/racial-disparities-total-traffic-stops-vermont-dropped-during-covid-are-again-increasing

CPD Officers Would Not Be Banned From Making Traffic Stops to Find Evidence of Unrelated Crimes: Proposed Policy

Chicago police officers would not be banned from making traffic stops based on minor registration or equipment violations that are designed to find evidence of “unrelated” crimes, under a new policy unveiled Thursday by Chicago Police Department leaders.

The proposed policy “acknowledges” that what the department calls “Pretextual Traffic Stops can be perceived by some members of the community as negative, biased or unlawful. Therefore, any such use of lawful Pretextual Traffic Stops as a law enforcement or crime prevention strategy must strike a balance between identifying those engaged in criminal conduct and the community’s sense of fairness.”

Officers who stop drivers for improper or expired registration plates or stickers and headlight, taillight and license plate light offenses “must strike a balance between promoting public safety and building and maintaining community trust,” according to the draft policy.

Read on HERE

Read the proposed policy HERE

Chicago Police Traffic Stop data report HERE

Mapping the Progress of Policies to Limit Non-Safety Related Traffic Stops | Vera Institute

Over the past decade, efforts to limit non-safety-related traffic stops have swept across the United States. These stops for low-level infractions—like a dangling air freshener, single burnt-out taillight, or expired registration—do not improve traffic safety, and police officers have used them in ways that disproportionately subject Black drivers to physical, psychological, and economic harm. Oftentimes, police have used these stops as a pretext to search for guns and drugs—with little success. Police departments across the country are proving that change is possible. The first known policy to eliminate non-safety-related traffic stops was implemented in 2013 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, under the direction of then-Police Chief Harold Medlock. Fayetteville’s experiment led to decreased racial disparities in traffic enforcement and fewer car crashes and traffic injuries/fatalities, with no impact on non-traffic crime, showing that this type of policy can work. Although the Fayetteville policy ended in 2017, it set the stage for state and local governments, police departments, and district attorneys across the country to take action for safer, fairer traffic enforcement.
— Read on www.vera.org/ending-mass-incarceration/criminalization-racial-disparities/public-safety/redefining-public-safety-initiative/sensible-traffic-ordinances-for-public-safety/stops-map

Youth in Adult Courts, Jails, and Prisons – The Sentencing Project

Overview

At the turn of the 21st century, it was estimated that 250,000 children every year were charged as adults in the United States. By 2019, that number had dropped 80% to 53,000. This drop is to be celebrated and is the result of legislative changes in 44 states and the District of Columbia, as well as federal funding incentives. However, there is still much work to be done.

The children that remain exposed to the adult criminal legal system are overwhelmingly youth of color. The vast majority serve short sentences in adult jail or prison and return home by their 21st birthdays, the age at which services can be extended to in the youth justice system in the vast majority of states; indicating that many youth could be served, more appropriately, by the youth justice system.
— Read on www.sentencingproject.org/reports/youth-in-adult-courts-jails-and-prisons/