全球智库信息集成服务系统

Almost half of the high-priority needs were related to leadership and organizational issues

• The needs related to leadership reflect the participants' view that the goal of a data-informed jail is impossible to achieve without the support and commitment of leadership.
• The participants reported that, in general, jail leaders require better education and training on the value of a data-informed management approach, including a basic level of statistical literacy and analytical skills.

Four of the high-priority needs were related to challenges associated with sharing relevant data with external entities

• The participants acknowledged that information-sharing is key to successful outcomes, but efforts often are hindered by misconceptions about protected data, a lack of trust in outside organizations, and a lack of confidence in the jail's own ability to manage the risks involved (both real and perceived).

Other high-priority needs were related to procuring and implementing a jail management system, data collection and analysis, and applying the data

• Needs in these categories included the identification of effective strategies for more-accurate and more-reliable data collection; research into the successful adoption of data-driven performance accountability systems in a jail setting; and the need for a common terminology of key indicators (e.g., recidivism, use of force), which would allow for better comparisons across jails and the ability to leverage larger data sets to identify patterns, trends, and positive outliers in key areas.

Jails are the entry point to the correctional system in the United States. There are approximately 3,100 jails in the United States, and on any given day, these facilities hold more than 745,000 individuals who are either awaiting trial or serving short sentences. Beyond serving their fundamental detention mission, jails have increasingly become a crucial resource for the larger community because they often serve the medical and behavioral health care needs of large numbers of disenfranchised individuals who come into contact with the justice system. As a result of the sheer number of individuals entering jails and the expanding scope of services that jails are expected to provide, vast amounts of diverse data are generated and used. Despite the opportunity to leverage these data to inform policies and improve both operations and outcomes, most jails, for a variety of reasons, are not consistently operating in a data-informed manner. To examine this issue, the National Institute of Justice, supported by the RAND Corporation in partnership with the University of Denver, hosted a two-day workshop. The workshop brought together a group of jail administrators, researchers, and representatives from national organizations to discuss the challenges related to more-effective use of data in jails and to identify potential solutions to overcome these obstacles. This report provides the prioritized list of needs and accompanying context from the discussion that resulted from this effort.

• Skip to page content

Objective Analysis. Effective Solutions.