NCJ Number
243037
Date Published
2013
Length
15 pages
Annotation
These national survey results provide information on attitudes toward innovation among senior criminal justice leaders.
Abstract
This presentation highlights the main findings of a national survey of more than 600 police chiefs, State chief judges, elected prosecutors, and probation and parole officials on their views on innovation and leadership; it provides information on key issues, such as, the priority of innovation in criminal justice, if criminal justice leaders aware of emerging research, if research is used to inform policymaking; and the obstacles stand in the way of innovation. Findings show that 89 percent of the criminal justice leaders rely on research and data to guide their decisions and more than half of respondents rated their agencies as innovative (56 percent). Respondents were more likely to label themselves innovative (72 percent) than the field in general (33 percent). Regarding the trial and error process, two-thirds of the respondents (67 percent) reported an experience with a criminal justice program or initiative that did not work. The most often stated reason for a program not working was a lack of necessary funding or staff. Of those reporting that a program of theirs did not work, 8 percent indicated that they continued the program unchanged, 37 percent continued the program with changes, 24 percent replaced the program, and 24 percent stopped the program completely.