Evidence-based Criminal Justice System Planning in Palm Beach County
Decisions on how to control crime and manage the criminal justice system are often made in the absence of data that may aid decision makers and improve outcomes. Recent advances in data collection and analysis combined with a growing evidence base for best practices in criminal justice administration have resulted in non-partisan research frameworks that are well equipped to improve safety, equity, and efficiency. The key is to connect policymakers and those with research expertise to develop long-term partnerships. To that end, Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice is developing a plan to deliver targeted criminal justice analyses to local decision makers throughout Florida. Local decision makers are often limited in the data and analytic resources needed to accurately plan for current and future criminal justice system needs. As a first step toward a statewide initiative, FSU is conducting a pilot program with a single county in South Florida to develop county-level analyses to improve criminal justice outcomes.
The Problem: proactively confronting crime with limited evidence and resources
Counties and local jurisdictions throughout Florida are expected to implement public safety practices based on the knowledge held by local criminal justice leaders. However, the main sources of criminal justice data available to inform these individuals are collected and maintained by various agencies within each county, but the systematic aggregation of these data usually occurs only after agencies submit them to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Although many types of data are aggregated by FDLE at the county level, conceptually different types of criminal justice data are frequently siloed, resulting in challenges to local criminal justice decision makers when trying to assess overall system needs. Also, due to a lack of resources within counties and the FDLE, localized data is often underutilized. For example, comprehensive descriptive analyses are typically not completed, and more advanced trends, forecasts, and explanatory analyses are even less likely to occur. In short, counties may not have access to adequate data and analytic resources required for evidence-based, criminal-justice-related decision making. Moreover, decision makers may have limited access to —or knowledge of— evidence-based policies and practices that may help accomplish their respective criminal justice goals.
Project Purpose
While FDLE currently collects and maintains a wide variety of criminal justice data for the state, localized evidence-based knowledge regarding the nature, extent, and trajectory of crime and criminal justice system needs is often lacking. This project leverages the data that FDLE has to improve criminal justice system planning and operation by providing targeted data analyses to local jurisdictions. The project is a first step toward a potential statewide initiative that will assist the FDLE in producing annual county-specific analyses of criminal justice data for use by each county’s criminal justice planning organization.
Various state and local data sources will be used to produce tables of crime and justice data based on the current year for PBC. Additionally, these raw counts and rates will be supplemented with graphical figures showing recent trends and future projections. Specifically, FSU will produce county-level trend and forecast analyses related to changes in populations and demographics, police calls for service, arrest rates by crime type, police force and correctional staff sizes and characteristics, as well as jail and prison population sizes and lengths of stays. Trend analyses will be produced based on up to ten years of criminal justice data.
This pilot study creates a partnership between Florida State University (FSU) and the Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission (PBC). FSU is working to obtain necessary criminal justice data and produce a comprehensive “crime and justice planning report” specific to PBC.
Replication of Pilot Study
Importantly, the pilot study in PBC will lay a framework for producing annual county-specific crime and justice planning reports and could therefore be expanded to all counties in Florida. Each county’s criminal justice system leadership organization could be invited to an annual statewide criminal justice planning summit to discuss the planning reports and how to best use the information. Throughout the summit, the importance of using data and research evidence to improve system performance and efficiency should be emphasized. Topics of discussion may include patterns of offending, incarceration, and law enforcement/correctional resources throughout Florida, including similarities and differences between regions and counties. Additionally, presenters could discuss options for evidence-informed practices that address areas of concern identified within the county-level annual planning reports. Breakout sessions could also be organized to allow collaboration between counties and regions with similar areas of concern and allow leaders to learn from the successes and challenges being encountered by different evidence-based approaches to criminal justice administration throughout the state.
PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATOR | Thomas Blomberg
CO-PRINCIPLE INVESTIGATORS | Jenn Copp, Young-An Kim, George Pesta, Nic Swagar