TTA Today Blog

Prosecutors play a critical role in the criminal justice process by serving as representatives of the federal, state, or local government in adjudicating criminal offenses. Like other components of the criminal justice system, prosecutors pursue justice with the best interests of public safety in mind. Discretion allows prosecutors to determine the appropriate legal response to each case brought before them, which involves reviewing the charges against an individual arrested by the police or deciding whether an individual should be charged with an offense. With this discretion comes great responsibility and high expectations from numerous stakeholders, including the public.

Across the United States, criminal justice agencies have adopted various types of technology-based tools and processes to support crime prevention, law enforcement, and other aspects of the justice system. This technology adoption has included the use of hard technology, such as closed-circuit television cameras, computers in squad cars, and body-worn cameras, as well as soft technology, such as risk assessment instruments and crime mapping. However, a recent National Institute of Justice study revealed that the capacity for identifying, acquiring, and using technology tools varies both within and across justice agencies, and many jurisdictions still lack a guiding strategy for technology adoption.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) offers a wide array of violence reduction information and resources to criminal justice agencies, policymakers, and practitioners, yet many agencies in need of assistance may struggle with navigating available resources and determining the appropriate DOJ points of contact for specific topics. In June 2018, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) launched the DOJ Violence Reduction Response Center (VRRC) to connect state, local, and tribal justice agencies, victims’ groups, and others with crime reduction training and technical assistance (TTA) resources offered by DOJ.

Criminal justice agencies use risk assessments to assist with the allocation of limited resources to manage and rehabilitate people at various stages of the criminal justice system: from judges using risk assessment to inform decisions about pretrial detention or release, to probation officers using it to calibrate the intensity of supervision and guide assignment to rehabilitative programming. The increasingly widespread and diverse use of risk assessment has given rise to a varied and dispersed body of commentary, research, and best practice guidance.