NCJ Number
80718
Date Published
1978
Length
217 pages
Annotation
The planning, format, content, and impact of training workshops to help implement California's system of Offender-Based Transaction Statistics (OBTS) are discussed.
Abstract
The OBTS was established in California to develop statistical data on the progress of persons through the criminal justice system. The system focuses on adults arrested on felony charges who may exit the system at the law enforcement, prosecutor, lower court, and superior court levels. Essential features of the OBTS are (1) the recording of data separately for each offender; (2) the using of the person arrested as the basic unit of count, rather than multiple crimes, multiple cases, or multiple dispositions; and (3) the recording of events and decisions on the individual's transaction record at each stage of the criminal justice process. The implementation of OBTS requires that criminal justice agencies be trained in the following areas: types of report formats, the interpretation of OBTS data, and the use of the OBTS data in each agency's operations. Training was provided in 33 OBTS workshops conducted throughout the State. The workshops were evaluated through the perceptions of the instructors, participants' verbal responses, written evaluations of about 80 percent of workshop participants, and letters of commendation from criminal justice agencies throughout the State. All indications are that this 1-year training project was a success. Appended are attachments and tables, the project work plan, the slide script, materials distributed, and a sample packet.