Criminal Justice Resources

Public Safety Assessment (PSA)

The Public Safety Assessment, or PSA, is a pretrial risk assessment that judges can use when deciding whether to release or detain a defendant before trial. The PSA uses data to produce two risk scores: one predicting the likelihood of committing a new crime if released pending trial, and another predicting the likelihood of failing to return for a future court hearing. The PSA also flags cases that it calculates present an elevated risk of committing a violent crime. The PSA does not replace the judge or impede discretion or authority in any way. The decision about whether to release or detain a defendant always rests with the judge.

As part of its Safety and Justice Challenge work to reduce the jail population, New Orleans launched the PSA in July 2018. Several stakeholders, including the Louisiana Supreme Court, Criminal District Court, Orleans Public Defenders, and Vera Institute of Justice partnered with the City to plan and implement the tool. The Criminal District Court's Pretrial Services program is responsible for assessing pretrial defendants, providing PSA scores to judges and commissioners, and supervising released defendants.

To learn more about the PSA, click on the resources below or visit psapretrial.org

NOPD MAX

Managing Analytics for eXcellence

Crime Incidence

The New Orleans CrimeMap displays information obtained or developed from received reports of criminal activity in Orleans Parish including:

  • The apparent violation
  • Time period
  • General location

New Orleans Police Department publishes calls for service to data.nola.gov. Each call includes:

  • NOPD item number
  • Call type
  • Text of event type
  • State planar coordinates (allows the call to be mapped)
  • Event time stamps
  • Dispositions
  • Block level address
  • Zip code

Criminal Justice Council Agencies

Other Useful Links

Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement

Uniform Crime Report (UCR)

Glossary of Criminal Justice Terms