Data Can Inform Criminal Justice Policy and Keep Communities Safe

Over the last several months, there has been concern about a possible spike in violent crime. The question remains: Is the spike real, and, if it is, is there a crisis in public safety?

Data suggest that there is no spike—despite claims to the contrary. According to the FBI, violent crime (assault, murder, and rape) has largely been declining nationally since 2022. Press Release, FBI, FBI Releases 2022 Crime in the Nation Statistics (Oct. 16, 2023). Whether crime is rising or falling is paramount to understanding public safety and evaluating policies. However, unfortunately, we often lack consistent and accurate crime data.

This lack of data contributes to many feeling the criminal justice system is a total enigma. Community members rarely know how those sworn to protect them, specifically prosecutors, are objectively doing.

Things Are Changing

In Fairfax County Virginia, the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office is addressing this information gap—between criminal justice stakeholders and the broader community—by committing itself to data. This is a new way forward for criminal justice. This office is in the vanguard of the data and transparency movement, utilizing data to implement reform and simultaneously foster community safety.

Over the last three years, as part of a unique and exciting public-private partnership, the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office of Fairfax County, led by Steve Descano, partnered with Innovative Prosecution Consulting/American University (IPC)-and other partners—to design, develop, and implement a transformative data program. The goal was to improve community safety, implement policy reform, and positively affect interactions that community members have with the criminal justice system.

Why Are These Efforts Essential?

For years, prosecutors’ work seemed murky and opaque—especially when observed by the public. Over time, reform-minded prosecutors realized data are critical in highlighting what we are doing well to keep communities safe—and areas where we can undoubtedly do better. There is always room for improvement—safety and fairness are a journey, not a destination.

Even though data are critical in so many ways, this is an area where many lawyers are uncomfortable because it’s simply not part of their training or daily practice.

“As a former prosecutor, I knew data was essential to reform and safety. And I thought I had a handle on what data looked like. But it was not until I partnered with my outstanding data team at American University that I truly understood the difference between numbers that were simply being collected and stored and good data that could inform policy decisions,” Allison Pierre, founder of IPC, explained.

The Practical Challenges of Building Data Teams

Some prosecutor offices—particularly in large or well-funded jurisdictions—are blessed to have talented in-house data teams that can put together comprehensive and transformative data programs, perform research and analysis, and build dashboards. And we can see the efficacy of these initiatives in large offices, like the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. The information that is available to both internal and external stakeholders is clear, comprehensive, and compelling. And, perhaps most importantly, it removes the murkiness that has traditionally plagued prosecutor offices and sparks transparent conversations, as well as meaningful reform.

But smaller offices may need to think creatively about how to take on meaningful data programs without overwhelming already-overworked line prosecutors and staff. And this is where public-private partnerships, like the one between the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office of Fairfax County and IPC, can be invaluable—helping put campaign promises about data and improved transparency, for example, into practice.

Meaningful and Replicable Results in Fairfax County

During our three-year partnership with the Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, we have had many flagship achievements. Highlights include:

The office developed three dashboards, the only ones of their kind in Virginia.

Reform: The Bond Data Dashboard focuses on a nonviolent misdemeanor and felony reform initiative to train attorneys to assess the dangerousness of the defendant—only asking to hold defendants who pose a danger to the community prior to trial and releasing (until their next court date) those who don’t. Bond Data Dashboard, Off. of Fairfax Commw. Atty.

Safety: The Red Flag Data Dashboard demonstrates how the office is taking guns out of the hands of individuals who pose a threat to themselves and others, proactively addressing and preventing shootings before they happen. Red Flag Data Dashboard, Off. of Fairfax Commw. Atty.

Transparency: The Case Overview Dashboard shows that Fairfax is the safest large county in the country. Case Overview Dashboard, Off. of Fairfax Commw. Atty.

Data Capacity: We have enhanced the office’s case management system, quality control, and data collection protocol. A “data culture” was fostered in the office, demonstrating to attorneys, paralegals, and administrative staff how data can make their jobs easier and more impactful.

We have crafted outreach efforts to showcase positive results to the community, as well as boosting conversations.

We believe that results from Fairfax County are transferable to similarly sized offices around the country, particularly if three key points are kept in mind:

• Public-private partnerships are valuable. Both sides should lean into their strengths, while simultaneously recognizing their own challenges and limitations.
• Efficiency and reform work is not easy—there will be hiccups and challenges along the way—and even the best planning will not be able to troubleshoot all these challenges. However, these challenges can be mitigated if there is buy-in from all stakeholders and if a data culture is fostered.
• These data do not exist in a vacuum. It is essential to communicate this information to the broader community so that they also buy into the office’s reform and safety initiatives.

The results in Fairfax County have been impressive and show that public-private partnerships, like the typethat IPC carries out, work in data-driven criminal justice reform. We hope that the lessons learned from our partnership will inform successful work in small- and medium-sized prosecutor offices across the country and drive impactful policy changes. IIP John Jay, The Power of Data: Prosecutorial Approaches to Remedying Racial Disparities, YouTube (June 20, 2024); Innovative Prosecution Consulting, Transforming Justice with Effective Data Programs (July 31, 2024). Learn more about our work.