Risk Assessment

Papers layered on top of each other, depicting pieces of a risk assessment process
We seek to apply data science to the field of criminal justice, working with jurisdictions to improve their use of risk assessments, while promoting the ideals of transparency and fairness.

The Center for Justice Innovation is committed to improving decision-making in the criminal justice process. When used carefully and ethically, risk assessments can facilitate more informed decisions on bail and pretrial detention. At a time when pretrial detention has been identified as a primary driver of jail populations, risk assessments have contributed to important reforms, promoting the diversion of defendants from jail.

At the Center, we have developed risk assessments for use with specific defendant populations (such as the Criminal Court Assessment Tool), and offer expert assistance for criminal justice practitioners working to implement their own instruments. We are also committed to advancing an informed public conversation about both the potential and the challenges of risk assessment. To this end, we have hosted dialogues bringing together policy-makers with data scientists and ethicists and examined the issue of how risk assessment impacts racial disparities.

Initiatives

  • Rethinking Rikers Island

    By providing support to the Independent Commission on Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, we're aiding in the effort to reduce New York City’s jail population and close Rikers Island.

Publications & Digital Media

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We work with reformers around the world.

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