CNA SMART Justice Innovation Center

Educating and Promoting Strategic Management, Analytics, Research, and Technologies (SMART)

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The national CNA SMART Justice Innovation Center provides analytic-based information relevant to police officers, criminal justice operators, researchers, public officials, and citizens alike. Using the innovative principles and practices of strategic management, analytics, evidence-based research, and enabling technologies (SMART), this center aims to promote the application of science in support of effective and cost-containing policing and other criminal justice operations.
 
The SMART Justice Innovation Center works on criminal justice issues ranging from smart policing, justice and corrections operations, critical incident analysis, research and planning, and policy formulation. It provides up-to-date analysis, research summaries, trends, and innovations, as well as a forum for interactive and dynamic conversation and collaboration. 
 
 
 
 

Featured News and Resources

Lessons Learned from Baltimore’s Police-Involved Shooting

At the request of Baltimore’s Mayor and Police Commissioner, CNA Senior Law Enforcement Fellow, James “Chips” Stewart, served as Chairman of an Independent Review Board (IRB) to analyze a police shooting that occurred outside a Baltimore nightclub in January 2011. The incident resulted in the death of one plainclothes police officer and one civilian. In addition, three civilians and one uniformed officer were wounded in the incident.

The IRB was made up of renowned experts in the fields of policing, criminology, and law. Their charge was to analyze the incident, examine relevant policies and procedures, and make recommendations on how to prevent such a tragedy from occurring in the future. The IRB convened several public hearings and interviewed dozens of witnesses over a four-month period.

In support, CNA analysts produced a timeline and incident reconstruction of the police response and shooting, as well as a series of briefs on Baltimore Police Department policies and procedures. The IRB published a report of 20 findings and 33 recommendations addressing police behavior and protocol for such issues as the club/bar scene in Baltimore’s Central District, plainclothes policing, use of force situations, incident management, criminal and internal investigations, and community interactions during and after a police incident.

On November 3, Chips Stewart joined Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Bealefeld in a press conference that was covered by numerous news outlets, including The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, and local television stations.

The Baltimore Police Department Police-Involved Shooting of January 9, 2011: A report by the Independent Review Board