Measures for Justice Prepares Norfolk, VA For More Transparent Criminal Justice System
Integral part of a nine-county data assessment to increase Prosecutor accountability
(Norfolk, VA) November 16, 2023 – The Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Norfolk has completed a data assessment poised to increase transparency and accountability for Norfolk’s criminal justice system. In partnership with Measures for Justice and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, this effort took place as part of the Tableau Foundation’s Racial Justice Data Initiative which is now part of the Salesforce Foundation.
“Everyone in our office works hard to ensure the efficient, effective, and ethical prosecution of defendants,” said Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney, Ramin Fatehi. “But we are most effective when we are able to measure the right things in the right way. Measures for Justice’s effort to get our office data-ready is key to helping us master our data – which will help ensure that we focus our resources toward diversion and alternatives where appropriate and enforcement where necessary.”
Partners in this effort are Measures for Justice (MFJ), a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on making criminal justice data transparent, accessible and accountable, and the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (APA). Data assessments are a critical step on the road to a more transparent and accountable criminal justice system, and a service Measures for Justice offers counties nationwide.
“The APA supports a robust network of prosecutors’ offices that are prosecuting a large share of the nation’s crime” said David LaBahn, President and CEO of the APA. “In working with these offices to move toward data transparency, Norfolk and the other areas have demonstrated a commitment to building legitimacy and trust in the office’s policies and practices, leading to more equitable outcomes.”
MFJ’s CEO, Amy Bach, agrees: “This partnership makes it possible for nine jurisdictions across the country, including Norfolk, to demonstrate their willingness to help make the criminal justice system more transparent and equitable. Offices need to learn to use data to manage their internal decisions and interface with others. This work allowed counties across the country to be able to take the first step toward high quality data so that they can have these crucial conversations that will make a difference.”
In addition to Norfolk, the MFJ and APA partnership, supported by the Tableau Foundation, will facilitate this data readiness assessment project for: Contra Costa County, CA; Dallas County, TX; Miami-Dade County, FL; Davidson County (Nashville), TN; and Ramsey County, MN.
Fairfax County, VA, has already completed its assessment and launched two public dashboards as a result of having more reliable data. East Baton Rouge, LA, participated in the data assessment and launched its public data platform, Commons, last month. Jackson County, MO, has completed the data assessment and plans to launch its Commons public data platform in early 2024. Commons is a community-driven data tool that helps shape criminal justice policy and helps communities make change.
This partnership was formed as part of the Tableau Foundation’s (now a part of Salesforce Foundation) Racial Justice Data Initiative, a $12 million, three-year commitment to build the data capacity of national, regional, and community-based organizations working to fight anti-Black racism and to democratize access to racial justice data that advocates need to push for change at the local level. This partnership includes support that allows prosecutors’ offices to more easily make this data publicly accessible and explorable by their local constituents.
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About Measures for Justice
Measures for Justice is leading a movement to change the future of criminal justice by developing tools that help communities and the institutions that serve them reshape how the system works. Since 2011, Measures for Justice has worked with communities, courts, prosecutors, and police to shine a light on what criminal justice looks like nationwide; collaborated to standardize and improve criminal justice data nationwide; and created tools, provided services, and led research to help create a criminal justice system that is fully transparent, accessible, and accountable.
