[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6337822,"mediaKeyId","2271445-a41a8c8c00ce18bf6ad9b9ed016f82da","parentId",2271445,"title","Whatcom committee debates priorities for criminal justice data, dashboards and short-term measures","audioSeconds",2196,"startMs",1122000,"endMs",3318000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2271445-a41a8c8c00ce18bf6ad9b9ed016f82da&start=1122&end=3318","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2271445-a41a8c8c00ce18bf6ad9b9ed016f82da/thumbnail_1122000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6337822/Whatcom-County/Washington/Whatcom-committee-debates-priorities-for-criminal-justice-data-dashboards-and-short-term-measures","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6337822-1c024660f16983c6a4d0f5bf0f626b72/orig.mp4?Expires=1771054932&Signature=VGWq08YKQrZmPAN8-JNX4DyHZMOXqM-8hSs2ZTBfRlorttGJak6B753WZZZKOoxJdX5oXWdgfiDZmpjmXCLhGSQpssfvig9eV-jlS8StUH-jh5B9ru1oJWy531vjWRIPyv7RHYjYShf2hXsLCrqpH4JdXCZiY38Rt4XFybQX-hLkyMFaHccPOEU1FJlKi4jeNn3htyqHDABSPsnj2iGI0VEreIi9CQaGo1MdhZmCvCotdyzMk3wkwB0wKpGClYHTZ0F~rG5Q~DFZtC371IKjq8C~t-dQT08ylkuFSzGh5-S29-Q2kbAHb3gAzomdrPATG5pT~OZ0rmEV3PPHM3zUaQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Whatcom County, WA","date","2025-02-11T21:29:56Z","article","Bertie, speaking for the committee staff, opened a wide-ranging Feb. 11 discussion on what data the Whatcom County Legal and Justice Systems Committee should request, measure and publish to support the county’s incarceration reduction efforts.

\"It's usually easier to answer the question about what data do we need if we decide what are the questions that we want answered by the data,\" Bertie told attendees, and then summarized prior committee requests from 2018 and 2020 that emphasized consistent data definitions, baseline measures and the ability to track individuals across systems.

Committee members and system partners identified specific, measurable topics the group should prioritize: recidivism rates, average length of stay in jail (noting large shares of pretrial detention), diversion rates and completion outcomes, use and outcomes of therapeutic courts (mental health, drug/recovery and veteran courts), prison sentence length and reentry outcomes, and warrant-issuance practices that affect initial arrest and pretrial incarceration.

Several participants stressed the importance of clarifying definitions before extracting data. Maya noted that \"diversion\" can mean multiple things — pre-filing diversion, therapeutic court participation with long-term involvement, or sentencing alternatives such as the mental health sentencing alternative — and recommended disaggregating these categories. Wendy Jones and Sheriff Tanksley said detention and Western State hospital admission histories are available and can be provided by the sheriff's office; Jones emphasized that a large portion of local jail days are pretrial, which affects available correctional interventions.

Speakers also raised technical and institutional hurdles. Multiple attendees said it is critical to involve county IT or a centralized data steward to cross-reference records across courts, jail, probation and behavioral-health providers. Bertie said the county has contracted Village Reach, a consulting team with a data analyst working on the project, to advise on system integration and reporting. Participants warned that different agencies use varying conventions for race/ethnicity data and that indexing methods used by some prior analyses (for example, including all detained individuals regardless of jurisdiction) can skew results for Native American populations.

The committee discussed immediate, short-term actions: compiling aging reports (time from filing to case completion), comparing warrant-quash outcomes and the effect of entering trial-setting orders at first appearance to reduce re-arrests, and measuring recidivism specifically while a person is on pretrial release to evaluate pretrial decision-making. Eric Peterson offered to share a recent report that includes prison-sentence data for cross-checking against county records.

Bertie said staff will collate the ideas into a draft list, circulate it to committee members and coordinate with the index committee and Village Reach to determine what can be produced quickly versus what will require longer-term IT work. No formal motions or votes were recorded. The committee scheduled follow-up work to identify feasible short-term data pulls and to prepare a public-facing dashboard and internal performance measures as separate but related products.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","IPRTF - Legal and Justice Systems Committee - Feb. 11, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The Legal and Justice Systems Committee discussed data needs for tracking outcomes such as recidivism, length of stay in jail, diversion use, therapeutic courts and warrant processing; staff and consultants will collate measures and engage IT and Village Reach to assess feasibility.","taxTitle","Whatcom County, Washington","taxId",2976,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6337827,"Whatcom Community College proposes 800-hour externship for new criminology bachelor program",1025,83000,1108000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2271445-a41a8c8c00ce18bf6ad9b9ed016f82da&start=83&end=1108","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2271445-a41a8c8c00ce18bf6ad9b9ed016f82da/thumbnail_83000.jpg","/articles/6337827/Whatcom-County/Washington/Whatcom-Community-College-proposes-800-hour-externship-for-new-criminology-bachelor-program","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6337827-1be97870227984605b57b42e98dba1a6/orig.mp4?Expires=1771054932&Signature=D97tjAkIpWfOP2SMU3FbbejBzhmg-cF2YRX~0g5FoWSrJpLUremFcV~gs7k-FA~pVX8poexy-v1EK-MhWxx2UgfdMdu5DcFggSKiN3RgoOH45cF9j96yDxGCmmpzac1J6cll3bAwewYmCaTmAHksp5mX9TTZNsLe9u3S0bbMTzXFTffW38dBnJLTPgckwT8WdNZgLSyHCiBYzcDsbtLuh3~3giJ3OyVoRjCP6jsEb3H3XZX5fYS7NYF7DAy1Ma-quQAmXsUiOuGvzRQ03I0U2zkwltB23t0GDSsQ5w7GxWmrpJQWb4dHIi1n5K6wMHkS-mTsRiaOXRRt3Q6zAjJVmw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Dr. Michael McHenry, program coordinator for the criminal justice program at Whatcom Community College, proposed a Bachelor of Applied Science in Criminology that would include a required 800-hour externship to give undergraduates immersive experience across the criminal legal system.

McHenry told the Whatcom County Legal and Justice Systems Committee on Feb. 11 that he designed the degree to move away from a traditional law-enforcement focus and toward broader exposure to courts, corrections and community-based partners. \"Why don't we have the same thing for criminal justice professionals going through their undergraduate program?\" he asked, arguing that longer practicum hours would better prepare students for decision-making in the field.

The program would require students to complete 200 contact hours each with law enforcement, courts, corrections and community organizations. McHenry said he has surveyed industry professionals across Whatcom, Island and Skagit counties and received more than 50 responses supporting deeper experiential learning; he described partnerships already in development with the county response division, DV SAS and community corrections.

Committee members and attendees offered practical next steps during the meeting. Wendy Jones, who joined the committee and was identified as an experienced corrections professional with decades of service in Whatcom County, and a field administrator with the Department of Corrections both indicated possible internship placements that could host students. Committee member Steven suggested presenting the proposal at a joint committee meeting to coordinate internship hours across task-force groups. McHenry said he will share contact information and meet individually with interested agencies to shape externship placements.

The presentation was framed as a request for partnership and coordination rather than a formal county action; no vote or formal direction to procure services or funding was recorded. McHenry said the externship is intended as a program graduation requirement rather than an optional placement, and he invited agencies to be flexible in shaping practicums to meet operational needs.

Committee members suggested additional uses for student support beyond practicums, including compiling data for task-force reports. McHenry said he would meet with agencies and that his contact information would be circulated after the meeting.

A forward-looking joint meeting with the Behavioral Health Committee was discussed later in the agenda; several members noted overlap between McHenry’s proposal and behavioral health work, and suggested inviting McHenry to present to the joint group.","Dr. Michael McHenry of Whatcom Community College outlined a proposal for a Bachelor of Applied Science in Criminology that would require an 800-hour externship split across law enforcement, courts, corrections and community partners; committee members signaled interest and offered to explore coordination and placements.","actionData","errors"]

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Whatcom committee debates priorities for criminal justice data, dashboards and short-term measures

Whatcom Community College proposes 800-hour externship for new criminology bachelor program