Milwaukee DA

Dashboard

1 Year In

Branden DuPont 

History

• Serving Milwaukee County, 950,000 residents
• John Chisholm, District Attorney since 2007
• Office size: 130 attorneys and ~10,000 cases filed annually
• Milwaukee DA's office has a long history using data to drive decision making
  • Vera, EBDM, PSA
• Released 9/2020

Dashboard Design: Data

• Data availability/gaps
• Building reliable metrics
  • crosswalks
  • offense classification (e.g PSA)
• ETL

Dashboard Design: Viz

•  "information is important for a chart, map or story, it shouldn't be hidden in a layer that readers first have to reveal by clicking a button. "
  • menu, filters, tabs
  • research backs this up
• Datawrapper
  • freemium gui web charting tool, but automatable
  • NYT, Vox, Fivethirtyeight
  • mobile-responsive
  • annotation

Dashboard Design: Site

•  18F Markdown Gatsby Site
• USWDS Web Components
  • Looks like a modern, gvmt website
  • Build quick and easy site
  • accessibility and security baked in
• High level overview
  • key office performance indicators
  • justice system trends
  • data stories

Reception and Use

• transparency and accountability
• nonprofit use for grant reporting
• general understanding of system trends
  • often by CJ and government agencies
• "Having this data publicly accessible is a matter of not only transparency but also putting power in the hands of the community." - OVP Director Reggie Moore

Data Story

• How have marijuana possession arrest and conviction trends changed over 10 years in Milwaukee and Wisconsin?
• Review of MCDA's last public stance January 2019:
  • "favors marijuana legalization if there are adequate implementation and regulatory structures in place"-Urban Milwaukee
  • Not a "super-legislator" will continued to narrowly issue charges in possession of marijuana cases with violence/guns

Lessons Learned

• Most engagement (media and public)
  • source of key data on a key issue, reference point
• Right balance between 40 page report and nuance stakeholders want

Next Steps

• More than just a transparency check mark
• Add other justice system data
• Emphasis on data stories
  • discuss effect of policy decision
    • reference point (e.g. media citation, presentation)
  • review of office-led research
  • deep dive into a topic in the justice system
  • comparison to rest of Wisconsin