![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/misdemeanor-graphics.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cMisdemeanors are the lion\u2019s share of the charges that we usually bring against suspects,\u201d Toledo Police Chief George Kral said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping this study gives us more ideas on what works and what doesn\u2019t work. That valuable intelligence will help me change policy, if necessary, to make the whole process more efficient, keep the community safe, and give defendants the help they need. If we could nip it in the bud at the misdemeanor level, we could stop someone from escalating to felonies in the future.\u201d <\/p>\nToledo was chosen as part of the misdemeanor study out of 39 that applied, in part, because of the collaborations UT researchers already have with local law enforcement and the ongoing criminal justice reform efforts underway in Lucas County.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are one of the smallest cities on the list, but one of the factors that puts us ahead of the curve is that we have been doing this type of data analysis at UT for years by working with the Toledo Police Department,\u201d said Dr. Kasey Tucker-Gail, associate professor of criminal justice, director of the Urban Policing and Crime Analysis Initiative, and principal investigator for the misdemeanor justice research project at UT. \u201cTPD\u2019s advanced data system is one of the best. Being chosen for John Jay College\u2019s misdemeanor project is an honor that rewards our teamwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
UT researchers say many police agencies across the country do not know how many misdemeanor arrests result in incarceration.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of what we\u2019re doing is taking a close look at the outcomes and conduct cross-site analyses to figure out how to increase efficiency and effectiveness,\u201d Lilley said. \u201cAre people ending up in jail? Fined? Are charges dropped because the system is overburdened or there is not enough evidence? Are suspects going through a diversion program, such as drug court? Our research alliance will examine trends and outcomes of misdemeanor arrests, summonses, pedestrian stops and pre-trial detention at the local level.\u201d<\/p>\n
The University of Toledo will work with the Toledo Police Department, Northern Ohio Regional Information Systems and the Toledo-Lucas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council as part of the project. <\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, this research will help guide new alternatives for individuals that may need help instead of punishment,\u201d said Holly Matthews, attorney and executive director of the Toledo-Lucas County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. \u201cWe\u2019re working on reducing our jail population by 18 percent. This misdemeanor project is going to help show the trends over the last three or four years \u2014 especially with the opioid epidemic \u2014 that we\u2019re seeing locally. We have already been working proactively with the Lucas County Mental Health and Recovery Services Board to address other options besides incarceration for individuals with mental health and substance abuse issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Research partners for the Misdemeanor Justice Project also include the University of California in Los Angeles, North Carolina Central University, Seattle University, the University of Maryland and the University of Missouri in St. Louis.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see the work of the Misdemeanor Justice Project expand from New York City to six other jurisdictions is very exciting,\u201d said Dr. Preeti Chauhan, assistant professor of psychology at John Jay College and principal investigator of the research network. \u201cWe are looking forward to replicating the New York model to these sites and believe the results will guide smarter criminal justice reform.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe network has generated an outpouring of academic and government interest in pioneering a national conversation around enforcement of lower-level crimes \u2014 something that leads a large number of individuals to enter our justice system,\u201d said Matt Alsdorf, vice president of criminal justice for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. \u201cWe are proud of the diverse U.S. cities leading this conversation, and we look forward to learning how the research partnerships inform local and national justice policies for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UT is one of six universities in the country to join a national research network to study trends in low-level crimes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1,3,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43562"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43584,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43562\/revisions\/43584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/misdemeanor-map.png\")
<\/a>