Understanding public priorities for criminal justice

Understanding public views

Justice systems may seem to have some straightforward goals in the form of crime reduction and maintaining the rule of law. But there are numerous competing objectives and priorities for criminal justice agencies. Finding the right balance between these different goals requires not only the professional judgment of leadership and evidence to support any changes but also addressing the question of values. And because of this, defining the goals of any justice system is an inherently political choice that should be informed by public preferences.

Unfortunately, public views of crime and criminal justice are notoriously hard to measure. As part of a study Deloitte is conducting on this topic, we have found that there is reasonable literature from many countries on public sentiment, but surveys and other tools need to be interpreted discerningly.

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