A snapshot of the work we’ve done this summer: debuting work across the country, from an innovative model for community investment in New York City to prosecutorial dashboards in Washington State; kicking off a Grassroots Policy Incubator to bring local leaders to the table; and going north of the border to optimize state governments in Canada.

For the first time in Snohomish County’s history, this collective data allows for a holistic picture of the functioning of the local criminal legal system, from the point of initial contact with law enforcement through the disposition of a case.

The PPPI brings together students from across CUNY schools, fields of study, and degree programs to be a part of the work CUNY ISLG researchers, policy administrators, data scientists, and budget experts are doing in New York City and across the country.

The Law and Justice Dashboard, developed for Snohomish County in partnership with CUNY ISLG, is one of the first in the nation to combine both law enforcement and prosecutor data to provide users a better understanding of affected persons’ involvement in the law and justice system.

The talk series brought together researchers and on-the-ground stakeholders from across the criminal legal field—including advocates, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and service providers—to reflect on New York’s sweeping changes to its criminal legal system, five years after the legislation has passed.

Over the past two decades, the average length of stay in New York City jails has increased 136%, from a low of 44 days among those discharged in FY 2001 to 104 days in FY 2023. While much of the blame for this increase has been placed on the COVID pandemic — and certainly the pandemic exacerbated issues, as it did around the country — that is far from the whole story here.

Put another way, if policymakers smartly address the underlying forces that shape admissions and length of stay, they can not only predict future jail populations, but help control them.

The Fellowship seeks to help chiefs of staff and other legislative office leaders excel in their current positions, network with other chiefs of staff, and grow confidently into the next generation of elected officials and public service leaders.

This spring, 22 chiefs of staff, deputy chiefs of staff, and other legislative office leaders within city and state legislative offices graduated from CUNY ISLG’s Kriegel Fellowship class of 2023.

Can other approaches create safer communities, while avoiding some of the harms of policing? Recent studies have provided support for the notion that the existence or strengthening of nonprofit neighborhood organizations — whether or not they are directly aimed at reducing violence — can have a dramatic effect, particularly on homicides.

Elected officials also face an obstacle course of requests, demands, and options on every issue imaginable; through this, it’s important to remember that following the data is the surest way to build a fairer criminal legal system with a smaller footprint.

The talk series brought together leaders from across the criminal legal field, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, former judges, and service providers to discuss how to safely reduce reliance on incarceration while keeping the community safe.