TED Talk Tuesday: "Why smart statistics are the key to fighting crime" by Anne Milgram
“Public safety is the most important function of government. If we’re not safe we can’t be educated, we can’t be healthy, and we can’t do the other things we want to in our lives.”
When Anne Milgram became the Attorney General of New Jersey in 2007, she was stunned to find out just how little data was available on who was being arrested, who was being charged, who was serving time in jails and prisons, and who was being released. Anne Milgram is focused on reforming the criminal justice system through smart data, analytics and technology. She is currently a Professor of Practice and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at New York University School of Law.
Anne Milgram excerpts to note:
Two thirds of the people in our jails are there waiting for trial. They haven't yet been convicted of a crime. They're just waiting for their day in court. And 67 percent of people come back. Our recidivism rate is amongst the highest in the world. Almost seven in 10 people who are released from prison will be rearrested in a constant cycle of crime and incarceration.
Using data and analytics to help make the most critical decision in public safety: whether they pose a risk to public safety and should be detained, or don’t and should be released. This one decision impacts everything- sentencing, drug treatment, crime, violence.
Anne explains current US arrest stats and the simple tool she and her team of data scientists and researchers and statisticians to build a universal risk assessment tool, so that every single judge in the United States of America can have an objective, scientific measure of risk.
They can now predict three things:
Whether or not someone will commit a new crime if they're released
Phether someone will commit an act of violence if they're released
predict whether someone will come back to court
Practicing personal injury and workers’ compensation law for nearly 40 years, Wayne Powell has seen the crime and incarceration cycle first-hand:
“Fortunately, working in the Commonwealth of Virginia, we have one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country. It goes to show the system is not totally incapable of change, especially with changemakers like Anne Milgram, and attorneys who follow through with their clients, offering them more than just legal advice and council, but resources that they can turn to once they leave the courtroom. I am determined to support my clients so that they’re not part of that statistic or that cycle.”
Click to read the full article on usnews.com
Report: Virginia Has Lowest Inmate Recidivism Rate Again
Virginia officials have announced that the state's re-incarceration rate is the lowest in the country for the second year in a row. (November 3, 2017)
The Powell Law Group in Midlothian believes in the justice system and your rights. Working hard to bring justice to each of their personal injury and workers’ compensation clients, Wayne Powell and his team of lawyers, law clerks, paralegals and assistants are dedicated to continued education which they find echoed in this insightful Tuesday TED Talk series. Hope you enjoy them and learn something, too.
If you or someone you love has been injured on the job or in an accident, please reach out to us. We provide free case reviews and decades of experience to get you what you deserve.