Corrections_Today_January_February_2019

Office of Correctional Health

Correctional Health perspectives

Data analytics A powerful tool for corrections professionals

By John J. Hagan, M.D., Vamsi Chandra Kassivajjala and Guy Scalzi

Data analytics produces meaningful insights D ata analytics is the process of extracting meaningful insights from a large volume of diverse data. Industries such as advertising, health care and public administration were early adopters of this technology. These companies analyzed information they already

had on hand to discover meaningful patterns and insights, and they acted on this information. Data analytics has now spread to all market sectors. Companies routinely request email addresses, send out surveys and collect information on the spectrum and patterns of activities of their customers. Human resources depart- ments use these techniques to attract and to screen potential employees.

Advertisers use this information to target potential customers. 1 Google and Amazon are excellent examples of large commercial enterprises who engage in intensive data analytics. Knowledge is power How can the corrections field benefit from this technology? Cor- rectional systems collect a vast amount of data on their residents. It may be stored in databases, spread- sheets, word documents, emails, logs and reports. Other sources of information include imaging data, audio and video recordings, as well as locational data, housing and movement history, commissary, em- ployment and attendance data. This information can be extracted, cleaned and analyzed to provide important insights into your organization and your residents. This article reviews four types of analytics processes and their application in a real-life correc- tions case study. Historical analytics focuses on reviewing information to answer the questions such as, “How have we been performing as an organization?”

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62 — January/February 2019 Corrections Today