New criminal justice data dashboards are launched

Attorney General Josh Kaul has announced that the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ), has launched new data dashboards that offer incident-level crime data about clearances, firearm involvement, drug activity, victims and offenders, and more.

“Providing access to incident-level criminal justice data increases transparency,” said Kaul. This information can be used to evaluate how the justice system in Wisconsin is working, and how we can make our justice system more equitable and enhance public safety.”

The new incident-level crime dashboard displays data collected through the Wisconsin Incident-Based Reporting System (WIBRS). The data is collected as part of the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and offers much more detail, compared to traditional UCR data. The new WIBRS dashboard includes 2015-19 data, received from agencies that have been certified to report their UCR data through the WIBRS program.

WIBRS certified agencies currently cover approximately 70 percent of the state’s population. The new dashboard offers users the ability to explore which agencies are reporting data through WIBRS, what year the agency transitioned to WIBRS, and to browse WIBRS data, based on topic on an agency-by-agency basis. Detailed methodology notes are also included, along with information on how to request more data.

Data is provided by law enforcement. The data can be utilized by researchers, policy makers, criminal justice agencies and the community, to understand trends in reported crime, and arrest data by type and geographic area.

The dashboard was developed by the DOJ Bureau of Justice Information and Analysis (BJIA), which works to inform criminal justice policy and practice by conducting objective research, analysis and evaluation of information.