Tag: University of Louisville online

Data tools credited for reducing pretrial crime

Data tools credited for reducing pretrial crime

There is much debate on the topic of pretrial bail and on which defendants should be detained and which handcuffsdefendants should be released safely prior to trial. According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), a suspect’s release pending trial is almost exclusively based on the charge and whether the suspect has enough money to bail himself or herself out of jail. The release decision is often not based on an informed assessment of whether he or she is a danger to society and/or is likely to return to court for trial.

“Research has shown that under our current system, half of the most dangerous or likely to flee arrestees/defendants are able to make a monetary bail amount and leave jail unsupervised,” claims IACP.

The IACP pretrial justice reform initiative was established in partnership with the Public Welfare Foundation and the Pretrial Justice Institute, with a goal of educating criminal justice leaders on how their local system can save and maximize their limited resources through pretrial reform.

“Reform” is also the buzzword around the implementation of the Public Safety Assessment – Court (PSA-Court) tool in Kentucky. This summer, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation released results from the first six months of PSA-Court. According to their website, IACP is “very pleased and supportive” of the Arnold Foundation’s findings.

Among other things, the PSA-Court report claimed that crime by defendants on pretrial release declined by 15% and the overall number of defendants on pretrial release increased by 70%.

At University of Louisville, the Department of Justice Administration closely follows the trends in public safety, including corrections policies and reforms implementation. Students in the justice administration degree programs (master’s and Ph.D. levels) often use their knowledge acquired in the classroom to create analytical models for scanning the corrections environment, assessing the contemporary issues and proposing solutions to local and state government officials.

“In our master’s program in justice administration, students work closely with local criminal justice agencies and assist these organizations in analyses that result in more effective and efficient operations. Also, as part of a required coursework, our students in the Ph.D. program collaborate closely with criminal justice agencies to develop and assess the implementation of various strategies such as victim/witness programs and day reporting centers” said Dr. Deborah Keeling, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Justice Department at the University of Louisville.

PSA-Court also uses a data driven risk assessment tool, developed by the Arnold Foundation, to help inform judicial decisions about which defendants should be detained and which defendants can most safely be released prior to trial. The report says that, “defendants flagged by the PSA-Court as being at an increased risk of violence are rearrested for violent acts at a rate of 17 times higher than that of defendants who are not flagged.

The full report from the Arnold Foundation on the Public Safety Assessment in Kentucky is available for viewing online.

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation (LJAF) is a private foundation with offices in Houston and New York City. The Foundation is currently focused on the three primary issue areas: Criminal Justice Reform, K-12 Public Education, and Public Accountability. The Foundation’s “core objective is to produce substantial, widespread and lasting national and community reforms that will maximize opportunities and minimize injustice in our society.”

If you’re interested in developing superior expertise in the field of criminal justice, join our elite education program at the bachelor’s, master’s or Ph.D. levels. To apply and enroll to the criminal justice degrees offered online at the University of Louisville, please visit our program page on Louisville.edu/online.

University of Louisville – A Military Friendly School

University of Louisville – A Military Friendly School

GIJOBS image_previewUofL recognized for its service to active duty and veterans for the fifth consecutive year

Louisville, KY – The University of Louisville (UofL) has been recognized by G.I. Jobs as a Military Friendly School for the fifth consecutive year. G.I. Jobs is an extensive web resources and monthly magazine designed to help veterans make the transition from military service to the civilian workforce.

The Military Friendly Schools list acknowledges top colleges, universities and trade schools for their success in providing quality services, creating smooth processes and making education affordable for active duty and veterans who want to start, advance or complete their college education.

The survey distributed by G.I. Jobs to students who serve or have served in the military is designed to gather information about students’ learning experience, services and affordability at their college. More than 8,000 schools have participated in the survey nationwide.

Throughout all services and processes dedicated to enrolling service members and veterans, the University of Louisville has consistently demonstrated its commitment to provide the best learning environment and college experience possible. The office of Military and Veteran Student Services at UofL is dedicated to smooth the transition from military life to student life by devoting individualized support to veteran students and their families in providing a broad range of services, coordinating with VA, university departments, and other community organizations.

Our staff assists with identifying federal and state education benefit options; advocating military transfer credit; withdrawals/re-admit due to deployments or call to Active Duty status; or connecting veteran students with campus resources, veteran service providers, and other agencies encouraging academic success at the University of Louisville.

“To be honored by G.I. Jobs as one of the military friendly schools, year after year, is a great testament to the collectively devoted efforts to ensure that our students who have served our country get the best education for the career they want at an affordable cost.” said Laura Dorman, marketing manager for online learning, at UofL. “Our online community of learners is much enhanced as a result of the experience, talent and skills that military students bring to the classroom and share with our civilian students. Their leadership and motivation continuously raise the bar for all learners.”

Our military students truly enjoy the availability of online education at UofL, because they can attend online classes and online programs from any location in the world. Whether pursuing a career in criminal justice, nursing, organizational leadership, HR or engineering, they appreciate the innovative learning methods, schedule flexibility, career-relevant curriculum and the extensive expertise of the faculty leading the learning journey.
We know how much pride our military students take in serving our country, and we are tremendously proud to serve them in return.

To learn more about the military benefits offered at UofL, visit our dedicated pages http://louisville.edu/online/military. To view all available online programs at UofL, visit our site http://louisville.edu/online.