The Milwaukee Criminal Legal Data Landscape Report presents a broad overview of Milwaukee’s criminal legal landscape, analyzing patterns and trends in data collected by a variety of agencies, offices, and facilities that make up the system. The findings emphasize racial disparities within the system and the need for data-informed, community engaged approaches for criminal legal reform.
Although Milwaukee County saw a drastic contraction of the criminal legal system during 2020, trends have reversed as the number of criminal convictions and incarceration population have grown each year since. One striking feature observed in the data is the racialized nature of the criminal legal system. Black individuals faced disproportionately higher rates of police stops, arrests, referrals, charges, convictions, and incarceration compared to their White counterparts. Since the criminal legal system contracted during 2020, racial disparities across stages
increased.
Data-Informed Approach Serves as Call to Action
Engaging community members can provide experiential knowledge crucial for transformative justice efforts.
Despite limitations in data granularity and availability, the report emphasizes the importance of
understanding mechanisms behind observed patterns and the need for qualitative data to contextualize data patterns and trends. Several gaps in data sources are identified that negatively impact the ability to track individual trajectories through the system and better understand how decision-making at each stage of the system contributes to aggregate patterns. Notably, the lived experiences of those interacting with the system are not captured by quantitative data.
The report concludes with strong recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to collaborate with the community, especially those most affected by the criminal legal system. Engaging community members can provide experiential knowledge crucial for transformative justice efforts. Data-informed approaches are proposed to assess challenges, allocate resources efficiently, and foster collaborative efforts for a more just and safe Milwaukee.
In summary, this report sheds light on the complex dynamics of Milwaukee’s criminal legal system, emphasizing racial disparities and the importance of community engagement in developing comprehensive, evidence-based reform initiatives. The report serves as a call to action, urging stakeholders to collaborate, analyze data inclusively, and work towards sustainable and impactful criminal legal reform in Milwaukee.
