Contact:
Beth Parker
Beth.parker@apainc.org

Measures For Justice Helps Contra Costa County, CA, Get A More Transparent Criminal Justice System

Contra Costa County is part of a national program to increase prosecutor data transparency and accountability.

(Contra Costa County, CA) January TK, 2024 – Measures for Justice (MFJ), in partnership with the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (APA), has just completed work with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office to help put them on the path to full data transparency. The project helped the office assess the quality and comprehensiveness of their data for use as a meaningful foundation for community conversations about policy change and reform. The work is part of the Tableau Foundation’s Racial Justice Data Initiative, now part of the Salesforce Foundation.

Measures for Justice is a nonpartisan nonprofit that develops data tools and services that help communities reshape the criminal justice system. The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys supports prosecutors to create safer communities through a more just and equitable legal system.

“We are so pleased to have worked with Measures for Justice and the APA to take a hard look at our data and how we collect and record data,” says Diana Becton, Contra Costa County District Attorney. “This work has been invaluable for getting us ready to make our data public, which helps ensure we are making the best decisions as we pursue safety, justice, fairness, and equity in our community.”

In addition to Contra Costa County, Measures for Justice, with APA’s support, is currently implementing or completed, data readiness work or a Commons platform in:

  • Dallas County, TX
  • Miami-Dade County, FL
  • Davidson County, TN
  • Norfolk, VA
  • Fairfax, VA
  • Ramsey County, MN
  • East Baton Rouge Parish, LA
  • Jackson County, MO

Data readiness work can prepare offices to share their data with the public. Measures for Justice offers a suite of tools and services that help communities get to full data transparency, among them Commons, a community-driven data platform that makes data available and helps communities shape criminal justice policy based on that data.

Following their data assessment work, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, launched a Commons in October 2023. Jackson County, MO, plans to launch a Commons in 2024.

“We are so proud to see nine jurisdictions across the country, including Contra Costa County, demonstrate their willingness to help make the criminal justice system more transparent and accountable,” says Amy Bach, CEO and Founder of Measures for Justice. “This work is a first step towards making high-quality data available to the public as a basis for critical conversations about change.”

“APA’s robust network of prosecutors’ offices are prosecuting a large share of the nation’s crime,” said David LaBahn, President and CEO of the APA. “In working with these offices to move toward data transparency, we are supporting their commitment to building legitimacy and trust in the office’s policies and practices. We commend Contra Costa on taking this important step to more equitable outcomes.”

The partnership between MFJ and APA was formed as part of the Tableau Foundation’s Racial Justice Data Initiative, a $12 million, three-year commitment to build the data capacity of national, regional, and community-based organizations working to fight anti-Black racism and to democratize access to racial justice data that advocates need to push for change at the local level. Now part of the Salesforce Foundation, their support allows prosecutors’ offices to more easily make their data publicly accessible to local constituents.

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About Measures for Justice

Measures for Justice is leading a movement to change the future of criminal justice by developing tools that help communities and the institutions that serve them reshape how the system works. Since 2011, Measures for Justice has worked with communities, courts, prosecutors, and police to shine a light on what criminal justice looks like nationwide; collaborated to standardize and improve criminal justice data nationwide; and created tools, provided services, and led research to help create a criminal justice system that is fully transparent, accessible, and accountable.