Data and technology for racial equity in the criminal legal system
Content Reference
Image
Image

Image courtesy of Forward Justice
Summary
To reduce the harms caused by police, a coalition of organizations in Mecklenburg County worked together to help people use policing data for advocacy and community organizing. The work resulted in new county policy eliminating certain administrative traffic stops.
Body
The Urban Institute and the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative are collaborating on the Catalyst Grant Program to help organizations use data and technology to advance racial equity in the criminal legal system.
Best Practices in Community Surveys for Criminal Legal System Reform Community surveys are powerful tools to help understand people’s perspectives on the criminal legal system. This guide discusses how community groups can design a survey, write survey questions, administer the survey, and share findings.Strategic Communication of Reform Efforts in the Criminal Legal System Effective communication is key to efforts to promote reform and equity in the criminal legal system. This guide for community groups discusses identifying key audiences, shaping a compelling story, and choosing how to share that story.Designing Data and Technology Projects for Criminal Legal System Reform Communities are innovating with data and technology to advance racial equity in the criminal legal system. This guide offers advice on project design, including setting goals, identifying collaborators, and planning for project analysis and products.Advice from the Field: Requesting Data from the Criminal Legal System More data on the criminal legal system is available than ever before, but community groups still lack the data needed to advance reform, transparency, and accountability. This guide describes strategies to make effective data requests, including ways to respond to agency concerns.Using Traffic Stop Data for Change in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina To reduce the harms caused by police, a coalition of organizations in Mecklenburg County worked together to help people use policing data for advocacy and community organizing. The work resulted in new county policy eliminating certain administrative traffic stops.Tailoring Grantmaking for Community-Based Nonprofits The Catalyst Grant Program team has learned from early rounds how to better tailor the grantmaking process for community-based nonprofits. The learning is never done, but we have identified a few promising practices.
Resources