Our goal is to steer social policy in an evidence-based manner, thereby reducing rates of incarceration and providing novel options for dealing with criminal offenders. In the past, legal policy has often been driven by intuition and politics rather than by data analysis. Because of the social cost and stigma of certain types of crimes, sentencing and policy changes are often navigated by emotional response rather than tailored to the person and the circumstances. To help navigate a more effective criminal justice policy, our subgroup on Criminal Policy Informatics has worked since 2012, creating a database that would address limitations found in commonly used crime datasets. The result is the SciLaw Criminal Records Database (CRD).

For organizations seeking analytic support, our team of data scientists can mine the answers to your questions.  We currently work with organizations of all sizes — from not-for-profits to state governments — to analyze the tens of millions of records in the Criminal Records Database.  We give detailed reports regarding the effects of legislation, policy, race, gender, sentencing, and much more.  If you are an academic, please contact us for a discounted rate.