The alameda county district attorneys office (acdao) is committed to avoiding unnecessary incarceration and reducing racial and ethnic disparities, while ensuring accountability and community safety…

This federal Project Grant award from the Bureau of Justice Assistance's Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program provides $350,000 to the County of Alameda District Attorney's Office (ACDAO) for a two-year effort to modernize case processing and enhance victim communication.

The key focus areas are: 1) Expedited case processing through proactive identification of cases for specific prosecutorial action, and 2) Timely trauma-informed communication to victims of crime via automated notifications. The ACDAO will leverage strategic data analysis, machine learning, and technology integration to improve prosecutorial decision-making, increase fairness and equity, and provide more compassionate support to victims. This project aims to enhance the ACDAO's ability to administer equitable justice and increase public trust through these data-driven initiatives.

The alameda county district attorneys office (acdao) is committed to avoiding unnecessary incarceration and reducing racial and ethnic disparities, while ensuring accountability and community safety and healing. Operationalizing this vision is far from easy; amid high caseloads and functionally manual processes for case intake, review, and decision-making, IT is difficult to ensure that prosecutors are responding to each case, and the people impacted therein, in the most effective, equitable, and appropriate way possible. The acdao proposes justice driven data science for prosecutorial impact: a two-year effort to leverage strategic analysis and enhanced technology in the pursuit of administering equitable justice by modernizing case processing, testing and establishing new programing and increasing communication aimed at enhancing public trust. These goals will be accomplished under two key areas of focus. 1) expedited case processing: proactively identifying cases as good candidates for specific expedited prosecutorial action and 2) timely trauma informed communication: creating automated trauma informed communications to victims of crime. The acdao will complete all case management system and technology tool integration in partnership with alameda countys information technology department. The grant funded senior program specialist will manage all aspects of the project which include the use of qualitative and quantitative analysis, machine learning, and data science to build a series of algorithms that can inform and improve prosecutorial decision-making and victim notification and referral. Ultimately these investments will enhance prosecutors ability to determine the best action for cases that are presented to the office and expedite support and communication to victims, thus increasing the fairness, equity, compassion, and fiscal responsibility.