NCJ Number
84431
Date Published
1982
Length
115 pages
Annotation
This report outlines performance measurement theory and presents an approach to measurement of prosecution and public defense performance. It gives suggestions for integrating data about decisionmaking systems into agency-level planning and operations.
Abstract
Functions analysis, a technique that accounts for criminal justice agencies' various structures, procedures, and policies, enables the evaluator to isolate key decision points and compare different agencies and jurisdictions. Measuring the performance of prosecutors and public defenders requires an understanding of how decisions arse defined, the adequacy and availability of information on which decisions are based, the decisionmakers' goals and experience, their reasons for not making alternative decisions, and the validity of the outcomes. Decisionmaking variables must be accounted for before patterns of disposition can be analyzed; the text summarizes the variability in characteristics of prosecution and public defense activities. Descriptive statistics are a better measure of performance than evaluative and predictive statistics. Few attempts have been made to evaluate the effective delivery of services; the text includes several techniques for measuring agencies' performance. Tabular data, 134 references, and an index presenting a composite index of criminality are provided.