2024 Member Meeting
Registration is Now Open
JIRN will host its 2024 Member Meeting in conjunction with the SEARCH Member Meeting in Las Vegas, Tuesday, July 23 – Thursday, July 25, 2024. We invite you to join your peers for sessions and workshops highlighting your work and the issues affecting criminal justice research. Speakers representing federal and state justice agencies, national organizations, and industry will share their perspectives and expertise. The program will include workshops geared toward JIRN Members, as well as joint plenary sessions on topics and issues of interest to both organizations.
Agenda
The JIRN program will begin on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 23rd, with a new SAC Director Orientation and the JIRN Annual Business Meeting. Planned workshop sessions include updates from BJS, dashboards, racial and ethnic disparities, working with NIBRS data, criminal history records research, Yearwood Award winners, and roundtables. SEARCH is hosting the event registration.
Tuesday July 23rd
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
New SAC Director Orientation
In this session, JIRN staff will discuss the services available to SAC members and answer questions from new SAC Directors. Topics include the JIRN website, Justice Information Center (JIC), peer review, Mutual Assistance Program (MAP), and other training and technical assistance resources.
Mr. Jason Trask
Strategic Communication Associate
Ms. Leah Valenti
Knowledge Base Administrator
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Justice Information Resource Network Annual Business Meeting
Wednesday July 24th
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Ask BJS Breakout/Meeting with Grant Managers
The Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Statistics staff will discuss the State Justice Statistics (SJS) Program and topics of interest to the State Analysis Centers (SACs). SAC staff will also break into smaller groups and meet with their grant managers.
Dr. Kevin Scott (Invited)
Acting Director
Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice
Ms. Stephanie Burroughs (Invited)
Unit Chief, Criminal Justice Data Improvement Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice
1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Battle of the Visualization Software: Tableau vs Power BI
Have you ever wondered which of the big players in visualization software would do a better job making a user-friendly dashboard? How much work would it take to build that dashboard? Help us decide! In this session, two different power users will share the dashboard visualization they built, one in Power BI and the other in Tableau, and attempt to answer a shared question with the same data. Attendees will experience these custom-built dashboards firsthand and then vote on which they think is better from a user perspective. The power users will then go under the hood, show how they built their visualizations, and explain some of their design decisions. Join us for this visualization software battle.
Mr. Christopher Henning
Senior Research Analyst
Bureau of Justice Information and Analysis
Wisconsin Department of Justice
Speaker (TBD)
3:15 PM – 4:15 PM
Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities
Researchers from the NY SAC will discuss analyses conducted by the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services on felony case processing in 2019, before the impacts of the pandemic and state pretrial reforms. This analysis examined whether racial or ethnic disparities exist at various decision points throughout the system. Results suggest the most significant disparities exist early in the system, at the point of arrest. As felony arrests move through the criminal justice system, broad disparities are less evident. Analyses specifically examine the role of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions.
Researchers from the Oregon SAC will discuss a tool they built using the raw differential representation mathematical measure to analyze racial disparities at specific decision points within the criminal justice system. Specifically, they are using it to analyze prison diversion decisions. The tool is very focused, concrete in terms of the scale of the issue (in numbers of people), and easy to present visually.
Ms. Leigh Bates
SAC Director
Office of Justice Research and Performance
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
Ms. Carrie Glaser
Research Analyst 4
Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
Ms. Katherine Tallan
Research Analyst
Oregon Criminal Justice Commission
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM
Incorporating NIBRS with Other Data to Inform Strategic Planning
To assist their state VOCA and VAWA programs with strategic planning, the Idaho SAC collaborated with the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victim Assistance to develop a methodology for calculating need scores based on grant priorities and the state’s definition of underserved populations. This methodology utilizes NIBRS, victim service, and US Census Bureau data.
Mr. Thomas Strauss, MPA
Director
Idaho Statistical Analysis Center
Thursday July 25th
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Round Tables: Topical Discussions
These round-table sessions will enable JIRN Members to discuss current topics of interest, including the Death in Custody Reporting Act (DCRA) Data Collection with staff from the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). Additional round-table topic discussions will be announced shortly.
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Criminal History Records Research
Dr. Robin Joy will provide practical tips on accessing out-of-state criminal histories. We’ll share the ins and outs of accessing and using out-of-state criminal histories using the FBI process and Nlets parsing service. We’ll take a closer look at the quality of these records, delving into the nuances that can impact the reliability of our findings. We’ll also share insights into the criminal histories of Vermont offenders across state lines.
Researchers from the Maine Statistical Analysis Center will discuss their report, Recidivism Among Sex Offenders in Main and Massachusetts, which examines sex offenders released from prison in Maine (between 2005-2019) and Massachusetts (between 2009-2018) and uses criminal history records to determine recidivism. The study aims to establish recidivism rates, employs survival analysis to identify factors associated with recidivism, and decide which characteristics, if any, differ by sex offender type.
Dr. Robin Joy
Research Director
Crime Research Group
Tara Wheeler or Julia Bergeron-Smith
Maine Statistical Analysis Center
Mr. George Shaler
JIRN President
Hotel Information
SEARCH and JIRN have secured a block of rooms at the per diem rate of $120.00 per night. (taxes and fees excluded)
Deadline for hotel reservations is Monday, July 1, 2024