Corrections_Today_Winter_2024-2025_Vol.86_No.4

Introduction A s Community Corrections Executives and displaying important information to support decision-making. Data visualization is the graphical representation of information and data, utilizing visual elements like charts, graphs, maps and diagrams to present data in a way that is easy to understand and interpret (Palilonis, 2024). The primary goal of data visualization is to communicate information clearly and efficiently, enabling users to analyze the details, identify patterns, trends, and outliers, and make data-driven decisions (Ward, 2010). Community Corrections Executives have long recog nized having too much data can be counterproductive. The sheer number of spreadsheets and the amount of data can be overwhelming, making it challenging and are inundated with increasing volumes of information and statistics, data visualization has emerged as a critical tool for consolidating

time-consuming to filter out and extract the relevant information needed. For instance, one weekly spread sheet reviewed by Florida Community Corrections contains over 146,000 rows with over 50 columns. Such a volume of data is nearly impossible to ana lyze manually in a timely manner. This is where data visualization becomes indispensable. By transform ing complex datasets into visual formats, it becomes significantly easier to extract and interpret relevant information quickly. The data visualization tools used in Florida Com munity Corrections provide executive leaders with a high-level view of performance relative to strategic objectives. These visual tools often use comparative data to assess progress over time, making it easier for lead ers to identify trends and make informed decisions. For example, visual dashboards can display key performance indicators in real-time, allowing executives to monitor the effectiveness of various programs and interventions (Kumar, 2017) (See Figure 1) . They can quickly see which

Figure 1: Florida Department of Corrections Dashboard/Community Corrections KPI Tracker

Opposite page: Adobe Stock/max_776

Winter 2024-2025 | Corrections Today

41