Louisiana Data Landscape

• In Event: Landscape Analyses of Criminal Legal Systems: Data, Disparities, and Reform

Abstract

Louisiana has been at the forefront of mass incarceration for decades. Different approaches to improving public safety have been implemented at times; however, the impact of these interventions can best be shown through data. The Public Welfare Foundation partnered with the Institute for Public Health & Justice of the LSU Health Sciences Center to collect data involving both Louisiana’s adult and juvenile justice systems. Justice system data were examined using both public records and requested data reports. Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections has made improvements with data display through including an interactive dashboard that includes information on the adult prison population including demographic factors, length of stay, type of crime and so on. The local jail data are more challenging to find with some information held from individual parish’s DA webpages or not publicly listed at all. The Office of Juvenile Justice has been publishing quarterly reports that include demographic items, Parish, and type of custody. The reports resulted in the following recommendations for both justice systems: Louisiana would benefit from establishing a centralized justice-tracking system. Further, these data should be disseminated both publicly through a criminal justice dashboard as well as through annual reports and at conferences.

Authors

• Sara Crosby, Louisiana State University

• Stephen Phillipi, Louisiana State University