Wayfinder

Wayfinder

Better decision-making begins with better data.

High-quality data is a vital first step toward a more transparent and accountable criminal justice system.

Reliable, high-quality data is essential for making transparency meaningful and impactful for your community. However, navigating large datasets to ensure accuracy and completeness can be overwhelming. That’s where Measures for Justice steps in – we focus on criminal justice data quality and standards to do the heavy lifting for you.

With Wayfinder, you can assess where your office’s data currently stands, identify what’s needed to make progress, and share your data knowing it promotes transparency and trust in your community.

Building the Foundation of High-Quality Data

What's Wayfinder?

Wayfinder is an online tool that helps prosecutor offices evaluate the strengths and challenges of their data practices. With Wayfinder, Measures for Justice delivers actionable recommendations to guide your office toward reliable, transparent data that you can share with the public and use to drive better, evidence-based decisions.

How It Works

Wayfinder functions like a comprehensive exam of your office’s data infrastructure and practices.

First, you’ll receive access to our secure web portal where you’ll complete a series of in-depth questions about your data infrastructure and culture. You’ll provide information about your:

    • Office operations, such as the number of attorneys, case types handled, and general case practices.
    • Data practices, such as how data is recorded, who enters data, and other protocols.
    • Data culture, such as what reports are created using case data, and how they’re used.
    • Case Management System (CMS), such as what system is used, and any integrations available.
    • Data extraction, such as how raw data is structured, and how cases are identified in datasets. 
    • Data collected, such as what fields are collected, and how they’re tracked.

With our state-of-the-art system, you can complete the questionnaire at your own pace, easily share access to your office’s assessment across members of your office, and best of all, our team of experts is only a button-click away if you have any questions along the way.

Once you and your team have finished the assessment, we’ll carefully analyze the responses using our unique blend of technology, data science, and criminal justice expertise. 

Following the evaluation, you’ll receive a detailed report that outlines your office’s strengths and highlights areas for improvement. The report will include specific recommendations and a clear path forward for enhancing data collection processes, which serve as the foundation for greater transparency and informed decision-making.

Testimonials

“The office wants to be able to rely on data to see if policies are being implemented and what their impact is. How are all the attorneys doing? Do they need more training here or there? Assuming transparency and accountability are important–and they are–the obvious first step is to ensure the data is reliable. Otherwise we’re just operating blind.”

Jaime Michel

Data Director Fairfax County
Commonwealth’s Attorney Office

“We see that criminal prosecution is behind other industries in learning to use our data to improve our work and our work products. And we are right next to Silicon Valley!”

Simon O’Connell

Chief Assistant District
Attorney Contra Costa, California, District Attorney’s Office

 

“I did not realize the importance of having a third party involved in evaluating our processes and identifying the data holes. Nobody in our 40 staff/40 attorney office has been operating on the same page since 2016.”

Chris Beason

Director of Information Technology
Norfolk, Virgina, Commonwealth’s Attorney Office