Online tool promotes transparency and accountability from criminal justice data

Coming soon to all East Baton Rouge residents, an online tool that will track what’s going on in your District Attorney’s office.

Commons, a web system that logs all offenders and where they are in the criminal justice process, will give the public the same information their public servants are tracking.

The site will help the DA’s office prioritize what criminal data should be made available to the public and what policy goals need to be set and tracked.

“The idea is to create measures to see where the system is operating and then the community can set goals. This brings everyone on the same page,” CEO of Measures of Justice Amy Bach said.

Bach says the platform promotes transparency and accountability.

“You can see who is in jail and for how long. You can see what charges are being prosecuted and what is not being prosecuted. It makes the system accountable,” Bach added.

The platform is intended to be user-friendly, accessible, and designed to ensure the data can be understood and put to work.

“One of the features will be filters with demographics and information, from the charge level to even the location level,” Chief Administrative Officer for the District Attorney’s office Jermaine Guillory continued.

This online tool will be the first of its kind for East Baton Rouge Parish and the District Attorney’s office.

A public data platform like commons has the potential to unlock productive conversations between communities and law enforcement and could even be the start of meaningful criminal justice reform.

“We see it as a way to help us do our job better. Our information and performance starts with data,” said Guillory.

The tool is set to launch by early Fall.