Arrests

This plenary will trace the arc of Allegheny County’s evidence-based investments in justice and human services reform, starting with the Allegheny County Jail Collaborative in 2000. Participants will highlight Allegheny County’s ongoing, and evolving investments in risk assessment tools to inform pretrial and child welfare decision-making, its commitment to reducing racial disparities in the human services and justice systems, and its continued commitment to building and learning from evidence informed by rigorous evaluation methodologies. 

This plenary featured three significant areas of NIJ research investment that have had a tremendous impact on both the research community and the field of practice: advances in forensic DNA, police body armor standards, and place-based analyses of public safety. Each topic was explored by a collection of people representing the researcher, practitioner, policymaker, and advocacy perspectives, exploring how evidence generation resulted in changes that improved public safety and yielded more equitable criminal justice outcomes.