Q: What is Cross-Tracking?
A: Cross-Tracking is the Commonwealth’s new statewide data initiative to standardize criminal justice information. Conceived as part of the criminal justice reform law, the fully integrated data framework is designed to enhance transparency, improve access to criminal justice data, and facilitate high-level analysis for the public, stakeholders, and researchers to inform public policy and improve public safety.
Q: Why create this dashboard, and what impact will it have on justice involved individuals?
A: Criminal Justice Reform required the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS), in consultation with the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS), to create a data collection and Cross-Tracking System for criminal justice agencies and the Trial Court. The system was designed to provide a streamlined, 360-degree view of an individual’s engagement with the criminal justice system following them from the point of arrest to entry into a custodial institution and eventual release to the community.
The integrated data system has six primary goals
- Drive operational efficiency and effectiveness
- Connect individual records across the criminal justice system
- Increase criminal justice data availability, quality, and public trust
- Empower data-driven decision making and monitoring
- Analyze disparities and evaluate effectiveness of reform programs
- Enable internal and independent studies of recidivism and other criminal justice research
Q: What steps has EOPSS taken thus far to develop the Cross-Tracking system?
A: EOPSS approached this complex process knowing that it required technological expertise and consensus among public safety partners. The integrated Cross-Tracking System required state leaders to develop uniform data collection and reporting standards across a broad range of agencies and independent constitutional offices. EOPSS promulgated regulations to this end which established consistent data definitions, defined the governance framework, outlined integration requirements, and developed operational and implementation procedures. EOPSS supported the Sheriffs’ Offices’ Offender Management System upgrade to allow for the collection of the consistent data elements. EOPSS further coordinated with various Sheriffs’ Offices in securing Live Scan devices to provide more fingerprinting capabilities during the booking procedure. EOPSS also secured a Data Use License Agreement that includes each participating criminal justice partner agency, establishing protocols for the handling, transfer, and publication of data.
Together, the partners strategized how to standardize data for presentation, moved data securely from agencies to the dashboard, and developed the public-facing visualization designs. This is the seventh dashboard that EOPSS has created for Cross-Tracking and the first of its kind. EOPSS is excited for users to engage with this dashboard, review data trends, and provide feedback to EOPSS. As the first of its kind, EOPSS anticipates improvements throughout the development of Cross-Tracking.
Q: What does Application Programming Interface (API) mean?
A: An Application Programming Interface (API) is a piece of software that follows the user’s instructions and communicates to the data warehouse to retrieve the data requested by the user. Users will see a URL at the top of the screen which can be copied and run from a browser. The URL can be saved for future use.
Q: Why was an API Query Builder developed?
A: The requirement for an API is mandated by the criminal justice reform law and is detailed in the following statutory language from M.G.L. Chapter 6A, Section 18 3/4 (12):
(ii) Anonymized cross-agency data shall be made available to the public for analysis through an application programming interface which allows access to all electronically available records.
EOPSS created this API Query Builder to satisfy this portion of its mandate, allowing users to access anonymized cross-agency data based off of a user’s own request for data. Further, users can select dimensions and apply filters to create a data extraction responsive to their interests.
Q: What agencies are included in the model?
A: At this time, Information is available for all custodial agencies in Massachusetts, including the Massachusetts Department of Correction (MA DOC or DOC) and Sheriffs’ Offices. In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there are 14 counties: Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester. Except for Nantucket, each County Sheriff’s Office holds Offenders. Offenders convicted and/or arrested on Nantucket are transferred to the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office.
Q: What is a house of correction, jail, state facility, or prison?
A: There are several kinds of correctional facilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each County Sheriff's Office, excluding Nantucket, oversees a Jail. A Jail is a pretrial holding facility where individuals awaiting trial or sentencing are housed at the discretion of a judge. The Sheriffs oversee Houses of Correction. An Offender sentenced to a House of Correction will receive a sentence limited to 2.5 years. But an Offender with a state prison sentence may also be transferred to a House of Correction and subsequently released to a DOC institution. DOC operates state correctional facilities (also referred to as prisons) housing various Offenders. Depending on their security and programming needs, individuals entrusted to DOC’s care live in a pre-release, minimum, medium, or maximum-security facility.
Q: Will the dashboard allow members of the public to access information about a specific person?
A: No, due to Criminal Offender Record Information Laws (CORI) which prohibit the dissemination of information regarding justice-involved individuals to the public, the public facing information does not include any personally identifiable information. While criminal justice agencies can access person-specific information to develop effective, personalized rehabilitation plans, the public facing dashboard should be used to understand trends across the larger system. For more information about a specific individual, you may request access through the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS).
Q: Were any data exclusions made?
A: The API Query Builder displays information for Offenders in custody on January 1st for the years 2017 through 2024 and sentenced Offenders released to the community from 2017 through 2022.
Excluded from these counts are:
- Civilly Committed Individuals
- Juveniles
- Individuals under the jurisdiction of the federal government, or another state’s jurisdiction through an Interstate Compact Agreement
- Any person sentenced in Massachusetts and serving custody in another jurisdiction via interstate compact
- Any individual booked by another criminal justice agency and held temporarily at a Jail or House of Correction under a Safe Keep Agreement. A person who was previously booked by another criminal justice agency and then transported to a Jail or House of Correction to be held for pre-arraignment or detention purposes. This is known as a “Safe Keep.” (not pretrial or convicted)
Q: How does the dashboard display data that predates Criminal Justice Reform (CJR)?
A: Given that data submitted by the participating criminal justice agencies predates the CJR data reporting standards outlined in the new governing regulations, EOPSS has taken great care to review and match the records from the various agencies to consolidate the data seen in the dashboard. In doing so, some of the older data, known as legacy data, was not able to meet these matching criteria and therefore, is not shown in the dashboard. EOPSS will continue to work through the legacy data with its stakeholders to ensure accuracy to be able to display it on the dashboard.
Q: Will additional data become available in the future?
A: Yes, the API Query Builder will expand to include additional statutory data fields. When fully achieved, Cross-Tracking will provide quality, standardized data to all agencies improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system.
Q: What guidelines were used to protect the privacy of individual Offenders?
A: In creating the Cross-Tracking platform, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security balanced the need to protect the individual privacy of Offenders with the goal of providing the public with greater access to criminal justice data. All data on the Cross-Tracking platform is available in accordance with M.G.L. c. 6, § 172 and 28 C.F.R. § 20.33, and is presented in a way that ensures personally identifiable information and case-specific details are not disclosed.
As a result, all data presented on this dashboard has been anonymized and aggregated to prevent the direct or indirect identification of any individual. This approach ensures compliance with state and federal laws while providing information about criminal justice trends in the Commonwealth.
Additionally, the Data Anonymization Working Group adopted the following set of guidelines ensuring Offender privacy:
- The API Query Builder should make reasonable efforts to protect the identity of individual Offenders.
- The API Query Builder will not release Personally Identifiable Information (PII) related to Offenders.
- The API Query Builder should operate within the confines of the FBI’s CJIS system compliance framework.
- The API Query Builder should operate according to the 501 CMR 18.00: Data collection and reporting standards for criminal justice agencies.
Q: How is the anonymity of Offenders maintained?
A: To protect the privacy of individual Offenders, the API Query Builder utilizes aggregated data that excludes all PII rather than individual records. The application will only display aggregated data when a data sample has five or more records that meet the selection criteria. Data samples of less than five records will be suppressed.
Additionally, the following generalizations will be used:
- Age Group (rather than Birth Date)
- Offense Type and Subtypes rather than specific offenses
Q: What file formats are available for download?
A: There are two file formats available for download.
- JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a common file format for data exchange
- CSV (Comma Separated Values) is another common file format for data exchange
Q: What questions will the tool help to answer?
A: The purpose of this API Query Builder is to supply criminal justice data for public consumption and research. The API Query Builder will provide data related to the following areas of interest:
- Who is incarcerated and what is the status of the Offenders? Incarceration information will be provided by various dimensions: Offender Status (Pretrial vs Sentenced), Age Group, Assigned Sex, Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity.
- Where are Offenders incarcerated? Custodial statistics will be available by snapshot date and agency. Demographic information will also be available here.
- How long have Offenders been incarcerated?
- What offenses have been committed by the currently incarcerated population?
- Which Offenders participate in programming? Do disparities exist in program participation related to demographics such as Age, Assigned Sex, Gender Identity, Race, or Ethnicity?
- Which Offenders are involved in the criminal justice system within the three years following their release to the community?
Q: What cohorts are in the model?
A: At this time, the API Query Builder utilizes two cohorts, custodial and recidivism. For the custodial cohort, the API Query Builder includes information for Offenders in custody in the MA DOC or Sheriffs’ Offices on January 1st for the years 2017 through 2024.
For the recidivism cohort, the API Query Builder includes information on sentenced Offenders released to the community during the period of January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2022.
Q: Can Offenders be included in the dashboard more than once?
A: Yes, if the Offender was in custody on January 1st of different years, then they will be in the sample more than once. This can occur if the Offender has a long sentence and/or a period of pretrial incarceration, resulting in custody over multiple January 1st dates, or if the Offender was released from custody and then reincarcerated at some later point. Specific to recidivism, Offenders can be in the model more than once if they were released to the community, returned to custody, and later released a second time to the community.
Q: How is the age of the Offender determined?
A: For the custodial cohort, age is defined as the age of the Offender at the custodial date, that is the January 1st date when the Offender was in custody. For the recidivism cohort, the age of an Offender is determined at the date of release to the community. Ages will be assigned to the following groups consistent with the existing public dashboard:
- 18 to 24
- 25 to 29
- 30 to 39
- 40 to 49
- 50 to 59
- 60 and above
Q: How is the race and ethnicity of the Offender determined?
A: Race has six values and is self-reported by the Offender. If the records management system indicated multiple races were reported, or the race was not properly identified, that selection appears in the “other / unknown” category. If an Offender’s race was recorded as Hispanic, that Offender’s race is displayed as “unavailable”. The displayed values are as follows:
- American Indian / Alaska Native
- Asian / Pacific Islander
- Black / African American
- Other / Unknown
- Unavailable
- White
Ethnicity as three values:
- Hispanic / Latino
- Not Hispanic / Latino
- Unavailable
Q: What is the difference between assigned sex and gender identity?
A: Assigned Sex is assigned at birth based on a combination of a baby's biological characteristics, including chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive organs, and is originally documented on an individual’s birth certificate. Gender identity is an individual’s internal sense of being male, female, or something else such as agender, gender fluid, or nonbinary. Since gender identity is internal, one's gender identity is not necessarily visible to others. All individuals have a gender identity.
Q: What are the values for gender identify and how are they defined?
A: In addition to male and female, the following values can be found in the field for gender identity:
- Agender: An identity under the nonbinary and transgender umbrellas. Some Agender individuals have no gender identity, although some define Agender as having a gender identity that is neutral
- Bigender: An identity under the nonbinary and transgender umbrellas. Bigender individuals identify with more than one gender.
- Cisgender: A person whose gender identity matches with the sex they were assigned at birth.
- Expansive: An adjective that can describe someone with a more flexible gender identity than might be associated with a typical gender binary.
- Gender Fluid: Refers to an identity under the Nonbinary and Transgender umbrellas. Gender Fluid individuals have different gender identities at different times. A Gender Fluid individual's gender identity could be multiple genders at once, and then switch to none at all, or move between single gender identities. For some Gender Fluid people, these changes happen as often as several times a day, and for others, monthly, or less often.
- Intersex: Refers to a person who is born with sexual or reproductive anatomy that does not fit within the sex binary of male or female, encompassing a variety of sex expressions.
- NonBinary: A term used by people who identify as neither entirely male nor entirely female. This can include people who are Agender, Bigender, Gender Fluid, among others. Some NonBinary people identify as Transgender, while others do not.
- Transgender: A broad term for people whose gender identity or expression is different from those typically associated with their sex assigned at birth.
- Two-Spirit: Contemporary umbrella term that refers to the historical and current First Nations people whose individual spirits were a blend of female and male spirits. This term has been reclaimed by Native American LGBTQ+ communities in order to honor their heritage and provide an alternative to the Western labels of gay, lesbian, or Transgender.
- Variant: Gender variant is an umbrella term used to describe gender identity, expression, or behavior that falls outside of culturally defined norms associated with a specific gender.
Q: How was the incarceration time computed?
A: Incarceration time is calculated as the number of days from the most recent admission date to the custodial facility to the snapshot date which occurs on the 1st of each available year. In all instances, each part of any day of custodial placement counts as a full day. For example, if an Offender was admitted on December 30, 2021, then the incarceration time would count as 3 days (December 30, 2021, December 31, 2021, and January 1, 2022).
For sentenced Offenders who had a period of pre-trial incarceration prior to the sentenced placement, the incarceration time will include only that time from the beginning of the sentenced placement and will not include any jail credits. For Offenders transferred from one custodial agency to another, the incarceration period will include only that time since admission to the most recent facility. For parole violators, the incarceration time will include only that time since admission as a parole violator.
For the recidivism cohort, incarceration time is calculated as the number of days from the most recent admission date to the custodial facility to the date of release to the community. In all instances both the admission date and the release date count as a full day.
Q: What is the difference between mean and median incarceration time?
A: Mean incarceration time sums the incarceration time for all Offenders in the selected category and divides by the number of Offenders. Median incarceration time represents the incarceration time in the middle of the range of all incarceration times for the selected category of Offenders. Because mean incarceration time will be impacted by “outliers”, Offenders with a very long period of incarceration, the mean and median may be different. Looking at both metrics will provide users with a comprehensive understanding of the length of incarceration.
Q: What programs are included in the program enrollment metrics?
A: In developing the data collection and reporting standards, 501 CMR 18 requires custodial agencies to report on Offender participation and the outcome of that participation in evidence-based programs, which includes all educational and rehabilitative programs offered by the custodial agency. By including all educational and rehabilitative programs, 501 CMR 18 reflects the breadth of programming offered to Offenders in Massachusetts. Further, supplemental to the required evidence-based programs, custodial agencies have included data on additional programs listed on the correctional spending matrix, distinguished by PSI program type.
For the custodial cohort, all programs for which the Offender enrolled between the continuous custody admission date to the custodial facility and the snapshot date are included in the program metrics. Thus, this will include programs in which the Offender is currently enrolled as well as programs that the Offender previously completed or enrolled during that custodial placement.
For the recidivism cohort, all programs for which the Offender enrolled between the continuous custody admission date to the custodial facility and the release to the community date are included in the program metrics.
The continuous custody admission date is the date the offender was admitted to the agency for any offender status and for which there has been a continuous period of custody. For example, if an offender was originally admitted to a pretrial status and later admitted to a status of sentenced with no break in custody, the continuous custody admission date is the date the pretrial status began.
Q: In the program metrics what do the columns indicate?
A: Users will see the following columns after selecting program enrollment metrics:
- Record Count: the total number of Offenders in the selected sample including Offenders who have zero program enrollments.
- Total Enrollments: the total number of program enrollments for the selected sample of Offenders. This number will generally be larger than the record count because Offenders may enroll in multiple programs.
- Total Counts by Program Service Intervention (PSI) Group:
Programs are assigned into one of six groups. Each column represents the total number of enrollments in that respective PSI group:
- Beh – Behavioral Health / Mental Health / Substance Use
- Edu – Educational and Vocational
- Sup – Support / Mentorship
- Work – Work Assignment
- Reinvestment – Community Reinvestments
- Religious – Religious / Spiritual
Q: How do I obtain information on governing charges and leading charges?
A: To see information on governing charges and leading charges, the user must first select offender status as a dimension and then select a single offender status (Sentenced or Pre-Trial) in the filters section. This will open up two new options: offender status dimensions and offender status filters for the user.
Q: How were governing and leading charges captured?
A: Custodial agencies maintain detailed records on all charges associated with custodial placement. For sentenced Offenders, this includes only those charges that resulted in a conviction and a sentence of incarceration. In contrast, the Trial Court maintains records on all charges and the disposition of each charge. To consistently report all charges and convictions for Offenders, the dashboard linked the docket numbers and other information maintained by custodial agencies with records maintained by the Trial Court in their record management system, MassCourts.
Q: How is the governing offense determined?
A: Pursuant to 501 CMR 18.00, “As determined by the Department of Correction or House of Correction, is the offense for which an Offender is committed to the Department of Correction or a House of Correction and which controls the overall sentence structure.” For purposes of this dashboard, governing offense applies only to sentenced Offenders. The DOC identifies the governing offense within its record management system, IMS. For record management systems maintained by the Sheriffs’ Offices, OMS and JMS, there is no designation. For custodial records where there is no identifiable governing offense designation, the dashboard will show the first felony charge listed resulting in a sentence to incarceration associated with the docket with the earliest filing date and the lowest docket number. If there are no applicable felony charges resulting in a sentence to incarceration, then the first misdemeanor charge listed associated with the docket with the earliest filing date and the lowest charge number is selected.
Q: How is leading charge determined?
A: For pre-trial Offenders, there is no identifiable leading charge designation in IMS, JMS, or OMS. Therefore, the dashboard will show the first felony charge listed associated with the docket with the earliest filing date and the lowest charge number. If there are no applicable felony charges, then the first misdemeanor charge listed associated with the docket with the earliest filing date and the lowest charge number is selected.
Q: What is offense severity?
A: Offense severity refers to the statutory penalty structure of the offense. Any offense for which a state prison sentence could be imposed is a felony. All other offenses are misdemeanors. This does not imply that a state prison sentence was imposed, only that a state prison sentence was an option for this charge (see MGL Chapter 274, Section 1).
Q: What are the offense types?
A: Governing Offense type and Leading Charge type are dimensions available in the API Query Builder. The offense type was determined by the statutory reference that is included in the charge action code associated with each charge in a docket number. Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) contains the statutory basis for criminal charges. Criminal charges are organized by statutory chapter. For example, MGL Chapter 265 is entitled "CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON" and Chapter 94C is entitled "CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT". For the purposes of the API Query Builder, these chapter designations are used to aggregate offenses into the following offense type categories:
| M.G.L. Chapter Reference | Offense Type |
|---|---|
| 265 | Person |
| 266 | Property |
| 94c | Drug |
| 90 | Motor Vehicle |
| 269 | Weapons |
| 272 | Public Order |
| Other | All other M.G.L. Chapters, CMR, or municipal offenses |
Q: What are offense sub-types?
A: Governing Offense sub-type and Leading Charge sub-type are dimensions available in the dashboard. All charges were grouped into the offense types by statutory chapter reference and into offense sub-types. The following table shows the offense types and offense sub-types available on the public dashboard:
Drug
- Distribute Class A
- Distribute Class B
- Distribute Class C
- Distribute Class D
- Distribute Class E
- Distribute School Zone
- Other Drug
- Possess Class A
- Possess Class B
- Possess Class C
- Possess Class D
- Possess Class E
- Possess Marijuana
- Traffick Class B/Cocaine
- Traffick Heroin
- Traffick Marijuana
Motor Vehicle (MV)
- MV Homicide
- MV Operating Under the Influence (OUI)
- Motor Vehicle Other
Other
- License Violation
- Other
- Public Order
- Restraining Order, Violate
Person
- Assault
- Assault & Battery
- Kidnap
- Murder/Manslaughter
- Other Person
- Robbery
- Sex Offense
Property
- Arson/Burn
- Breaking and Entering (B&E)/Burglary
- Forgery
- Fraud
- Larceny
- Motor Vehicle
- Other Property
- Shoplifting
- Trespassing
Weapon
- Dangerous Weapon
- Firearm
- Other Weapon