Survey results: Criminal justice innovation

You were among 1,000 leaders across the country—police chiefs, state chief judges and administrators, elected prosecutors, and community corrections officials—who were asked to share their perspectives on the role of research and innovation in your job.

We are writing to share the survey results with you. Below is a link to the full research report, as well as a summary presentation that highlights key findings.

Download the full report.

Download the summary presentation.

The survey results demonstrate that today’s criminal justice leaders rely heavily on research and data to guide their decisions, with nine out of ten reporting “always” (46 percent) or “sometimes” (43 percent) looking to research and data to guide decisions. The study also highlights links between research and innovation: criminal justice leaders who strongly embraced research in their agencies were more likely to rate themselves as innovative, to indicate that they work in an innovative agency, and to score higher on an index measuring the use of specific innovative practices at work.

In another key finding, two-thirds of survey respondents said they had been involved in a program or initiative that did not work, and their top response was to seek to improve the program, as opposed to shutting it down. This finding suggests that trial and error is part of everyday professional life in criminal justice.

The national survey is part of a multi-faceted inquiry into criminal justice innovation that has produced several publications, including two books: Daring to Fail and Trial and Error in Criminal Justice Reform: Learning from Failure.

We thank you for your participation in this important project. If you have any questions about the survey or the Center for Court Innovation’s work, please contact Emily Gold at (646) 386-4468 or golde@courtinnovation.org.