Criminal Justice

Evaluation Approach

Evaluators create data visualizations and conduct data analyses that support prosecutors in taking proactive, engaged responses to community problems that de-emphasize the use of incarceration, reduce racial and ethnic disparities in justice outcomes, build greater trust through community engagement, and increase prosecutorial transparency and accountability. Currently, data dashboards include information in eight areas: felony cases filed and declined; charging and filing; case resolution; diversion and deferrals; sentencing; defendant characteristics; victim characteristics and processes; staffing and caseloads.

Relevant Resources

Public facing data dashboards and analyses of racial/ethnic disparities at points of prosecutorial discretion are available at https://data.dacolorado.org/.

Here are a few key resources:

• Brief report describing findings from the first two years of the project, including its impact on staff knowledge and attitudes.
• Our toolkit filled with resources for DA offices looking to support data-driven decision-making.
• Media coverage garnered by the project.
• A time to resolution two-pager with strategies for addressing timeliness.
• A prosecution strategies two-pager with examples of how to use data to address case outcomes.

Past newsletters:

• January 2024: Newly joined districts, Time to Resolution webinar, resource on failure to appear

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For additional information please contact Lauren Gase, PhD at lauren.gase@ucdenver.edu.