Using Research to Improve Policing

Launched in late 2020, the Task Force on Policing identified the policies and practices most likely to reduce excessive use of force, increase accountability, and rebuild trust between the police and communities. Read the latest recommendations to improve accountability in law enforcement. The final report highlighted five priorities for reform.

Reshaping Criminal Justice After COVID-19

Led by former U.S. Attorneys General Loretta Lynch and Alberto Gonzales, the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice issued sweeping recommendations to increase the resiliency, fairness, and effectiveness of a system that includes 2.1 million people behind bars and another 4.4 million on probation or parole.

Welcome to the Council

Independent and nonpartisan, the Council is an invitational membership organization and think tank, serving as a center of gravity and incubator of policy and leadership for the criminal justice field.

Using Research to Improve Policing

Launched in late 2020, the Task Force on Policing identified the policies and practices most likely to reduce excessive use of force, increase accountability, and rebuild trust between the police and communities. Read the latest recommendations to improve accountability in law enforcement. The final report highlighted five priorities for reform.

READ THE LATEST

facts and figures

0

COVID-19 death rates in prisons

0%

Government expenditure on policing

0%

Probability of future convictions

The COVID-19 death rate in prisons was 2.1 times that of the general population, after adjusting for the age, sex, and race/ethnicity of incarcerated individuals.

Spending on police nearly tripled over the past 40 years, but as a share of total state and local government expenditures it has been flat, at about 3.7%.

In one Texas county, receiving a deferred adjudication of guilt reduced the probability of future convictions over the subsequent 10 years by 45%.

Member Spotlight

Member Spotlight Headshot 2

"We've got to become more data-driven and less reliant on anecdotes. We need to focus on, what are we changing? What are we changing to?"

Carlos Martinez
Public Defender, Miami-Dade County
Member Spotlight Headshot 3

"It's a cultural change of how you think about human beings and really putting their lives first instead of the bottom line. Waking up every day to make a difference, one person, one day at a time."

Dan Meyer
CEO and founder, Nehemiah Manufacturing Co.
Member Spotlight Headshot 1

"The way that we view people must change. Most of the folks who are incarcerated now are going to one day come home. We want to give them the opportunity for success by looking at them - the whole person."

Alice Marie Johnson
Advocate, Speaker, Author
Learn More

Latest posts

By Rachel Yen | April 11, 2024

State Sentencing Reforms Had Little Impact on Racial Disparities in Imprisonment, Analysis Finds

Disparities in female prison populations declined substantially, largely driven by a 138% increase in prison admissions for White women from 2000 to 2019.

Read More

By Rachel Yen | March 27, 2024

UpClose with John Malcolm

This month’s member spotlight features John Malcolm. Malcolm oversees The Heritage Foundation’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as director of the think tank’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.

Read More

By Rachel Yen | February 29, 2024

Veterans Justice Commission Urges Department of Defense, VA to Boost Transition Support for Service Members

Led by two former defense secretaries, the 15-member commission calls for risk assessment, joint transition centers, and other actions to cut the number of justice-involved veterans

Read More

More Posts