Cross-Tracking Dashboard FAQs
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.
In August 2022, the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) debuted the first phase of this project. The inaugural dataset integrates 9.4 million records dating back to January 2017 into annual snapshots for the public to study changes and patterns year-over-year. The data also includes historical demographic information.
Q: Why create this dashboard, and what impact will it have on justice involved individuals?
A: Criminal Justice Reform required the 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 Parole Supervision.
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 from each phase one criminal justice partner agency.
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. 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 are the counties referred to in the graphs?
A: In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, there are 14 counties: Barnstable, Berkshire, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Worcester. Each County Sheriff’s Office operates a jail and house of correction, except for Nantucket where individuals in their custody are immediately transferred to the care of the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office. For this reason, Nantucket does not have custodial population data.
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: This dashboard displays information for Offenders in custody on January 1st for the years 2017 through the most recent year.
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; and
- 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: Will additional data become available in the future?
A: Yes, the system will continue to expand in response to the modernization efforts for record management systems utilized by Commonwealth criminal justice agencies. When fully achieved, the Cross-Tracking System will provide quality, standardized data to all agencies improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the criminal justice system. Equally important, the Cross-Tracking Dashboard provides anonymized and comprehensive data on the criminal justice populations to the public and any interested party.
Q: How is the age of the Offender determined?
A: 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. Ages are assigned to the following groups:
- 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 has three values:
- Hispanic / Latino
- Not Hispanic / Latino
- Unavailable
Q: How is the sex of an Offender determined?
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.
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.