Criminal Case Dashboard

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2020

Hennepin County’s Criminal Case Dashboard (https://www.hennepinattorney.org/about/dashboard/data-dashboard) is a first-of-its kind effort to promote transparency in a prosecutor’s office. In 2016, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office (HCAO) began building a data dashboard that would allow the public to view its past 5 years of criminal case data. The purpose of this project was three-fold: 1) to better serve data requests from the media and community; 2) to better inform the public about demographic disparities; and 3) to guide policy-making with respect to disparity reduction. The data is broken down by offense; charging decision; disposition; and case demographics (including race, gender, and geography). To make the data accessible, we used Microsoft Power BI to build a report with interactive visualizations and up-to-date data. As part of our commitment to equal justice, the dashboard was designed to allow for a detailed analysis of racial disparities. Though the HCAO is not responsible for the demographics of cases it receives, it takes seriously the responsibility to accurately inform the community about this issue and, where possible, address it. The dashboard was launched in March of 2019, and it has been used to guide policy related to marijuana offenses, school crime, and diversion—all areas where racial disparities are being meaningfully reduced.