Even as protesters called for change in cities across America last year, a massive experiment was underway that reshaped every corner of the criminal justice system.

Some police agencies scaled back traffic stops and low-level arrests. Courts tried to send more defendants into diversion programs, rather than locking them up. Prisons and jails released people who were awaiting trial or serving minor sentences. The result was a less intrusive, less punitive system of justice—one that dovetailed in some ways with demands for reform, but was brought about more by the demands of COVID-19.

The pandemic forced the entire criminal justice system to adapt and innovate in ways it never had before. Researchers convened a series of workshops with experts and practitioners—police chiefs, prison officials, judges, parole officers—to explore how the lessons of COVID-19 could improve the future of criminal justice. The National Institute of Justice sponsored their work.

“By showing what was possible,” they wrote, the pandemic “opens up new possibilities for the future.” Here's a small sample of those possibilities, and the questions that must still be answered.

Police
Big Change:
As courts shut down and jails tried to reduce their populations, some police agencies scaled back low-level arrests and reduced or fully suspended traffic enforcement. Many workshop participants said they had not seen any subsequent increase in crime tied to those changes.

Questions for the Future:
Does evidence support those perceptions that targeted reductions in enforcement had no significant effect on public safety?

How would continuing web-based crime reporting, which expanded during the pandemic, affect public trust in police?

Are there more effective approaches to respond to mental health crisis calls, which increased during the pandemic?

Read the full article about criminal justice system at RAND Corporation.