NCJ Number
74046
Date Published
1980
Length
242 pages
Annotation
This book examines several LEAA case management information systems (CMIS's), programs to aid local prosecutors', and analyzes the problems which undermine the effectiveness of these federally induced diffusion programs.
Abstract
In addition to information, induced diffusion programs provide either funding or technical assistance to encourage adoption and facilitate implementation. CMIS is one program of federally induced diffusion which endorses specific innovations through a computerized data processing system that collects data describing defendants, their cases, and the handling of those cases at various points in the prosecution process. CMIS improves management control through the detection of deviation from explicit policies and through an increased capacity to compare charging, disposition, and delay patterns across branch offices and assistants. The discussion of CMIS suitability focuses on Prosecutor's Management Information Systems (PROMIS), an LEAA-funded computerized case management system prototype which exemplifies early experimentation with vertical prosecution units and statistically derived case ranking systems. PROMIS and the District Attorney's Automated Legal Information System (DALITE) were designed to provide the following outputs: operational, logistical support, and management control information; problem analysis; strategic planning; and general criminal justice research materials. Although the prototypes eventually reached levels of information use, their implementation histories suggest that other prosecutors' offices can expect to encounter delays and high development costs before CMIS projects will actually begin to produce information outputs to offset a major portion of their operational costs. Prosecutors' offices attempting to design and implement new CMIS prototypes are likely to encounter the difficulties suggested by the PROMIS and DALITE implementation experiences: design and cognition problems, organizational cooperation problems, poor data quality, and a failure to realize potential uses. Comparing these data with the actual experiences of 20 PROMIS users, it was found that the same factors that make case management systems attractive also make them difficult to implement. The analysis is extended to LEAA's Career Criminal Program and the formal case ranking system, which are other tools of prosecution management. The findings point to the mixed blessings of Federal programs that combine funding, information, and technical assistance to induce local adoption of complex managerial improvements. Although such programs increase the chances of successful implementation, they also invoke the danger of the diffusion of either wasteful or invalid programs. A description of the DALITE prototype is appended. Chapter notes, an index, 38 references, samples of case evaluation forms, and an intuitively designed case ranking system are provided. (Author abstract modified)