Cook County Leaders Announce New Criminal Justice Dashboard
[Cook County, Illinois] Today, Cook County leaders came together to announce the launch of the Cook County Criminal Justice Dashboard. The new dashboard consolidates data from across Cook County’s criminal justice agencies to promote increased transparency, access and understanding of data connected to the local criminal justice system.
“The Cook County Criminal Justice Dashboard reflects the ongoing collaboration among our justice system partners,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “It shows our shared commitment to transparency and to making the criminal legal system work better for the public. We’re proud to share this tool to help residents better understand how the justice system affects people and communities across Cook County.”
The Cook County Criminal Justice Dashboard has been funded by the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge and developed in conjunction with Loyola University of Chicago's Center for Criminal Justice Research. It includes information about incidents and arrests, criminal case filings, jail bookings and releases, pretrial release decisions, sentences and prison information. The dynamic tool allows users to interact with the data, filtering by year, offense types, and other demographic factors, allowing data to be viewed from a variety of perspectives that were previously not publicly available.
The dashboard project is the result of sustained coordination across independently elected offices that share a commitment to promoting equitable access to information. It includes data from the Office of the Chief Judge, the Cook County State’s Attorney, Cook County Sherriff’s Office, the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County and the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender.
“My office has long understood the importance of transparency and interagency collaboration to inform the public about the justice system,” said Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County Timothy C. Evans. “The Cook County Criminal Justice Dashboard is a continuation of this commitment.”
“This kind of collaboration, and the shared sense of purpose that underlies this project, is a positive step, and while we may at times be adversaries in the courtroom, we are allies in the work of strengthening our justice system,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke. “Together, we are making meaningful strides to ensure that the people of Cook County not only experience justice, but can trust the system that delivers it.”
“As we continue in this political climate, it is important to have the trust of political leaders,” said Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Mariyana Spyropoulos. “Giving the residents of Cook County a look into the work we are doing is important to foster those relationships of trust and honesty.”
"With these tools, I hope the public will be able to gain a better understanding of our criminal legal system, including the impact policy can have on a person after an arrest,” said Cook County Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell, Jr. “By bringing data from all our offices together in a shared commitment to transparency and accountability, I hope we can promote discussions and inspire critical analysis that provides a more holistic view of how our courts operate, instead of only focusing on stories about the outliers.”
To increase awareness and understanding of how to leverage the dashboard, County leaders and Loyola University of Chicago's Center for Criminal Justice Research joined together to demonstrate features of the dashboard to members of the media. This and additional outreach will help ensure local stakeholders including the media, local organizations and communities can benefit from the consolidated information available in the dashboard.
“The Cook County Criminal Justice Dashboard has been collaboratively developed by a cross-agency group of stakeholders. It is designed to make publicly available data more accessible and easier to navigate,” said David Olson, Co-director of the Loyola University of Chicago's Center for Criminal Justice Research. “Our hope is that engaging with a variety of data, all in one place, helps those looking to understand how the system functions to better explore their questions and gain insights,” said Don Stemen, Co-director of the Loyola University of Chicago's Center for Criminal Justice Research.
The public can view and interact with the Cook County Criminal Justice Dashboard at https://cook-dashboard.loyolaccj.org. Data represented in the dashboard will be updated quarterly.
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