2009 AARIN Symposium
The first in what will become an annual event, the inaugural 2009 AARIN Symposium featured presentations demonstrating the utility of the AARIN research platform, highlighting the diversity of policy issues to which AARIN can provide meaningful insight for data driven policy decisions.
On May 21st, 2009, the inaugural Arizona Arrestee Reporting Information Network Symposium was held at ASU's Downtown Campus. The event included invitees from throughout Arizona, representing local and county law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, public defenders, and other court officials, adult and juvenile county probation, Arizona Department of Corrections and Juvenile Corrections, private treatment providers, and members of the community.
Presentations focused on several special topic reports and annual results from 2008 data collection efforts.
To view and download the presentations from the symposium, see below.
The initial presentation provided the historical background of the AARIN Project, its roots in ADAM and DUF, and the partnership with Maricopa County that ressurected data collection. This presentation also provides details about the data collection procedures, sampling strategy, methodology, and potential uses of the AARIN research platform for practitioners and policy makers. A PDF of the presentation can be found here: AARIN Background.
Utility of AARIN to Maricopa County
Amy Rex, a Criminal Justice Project Manager from Justice System Information and Planning of the Maricopa County Manager's Office presented on the County's need for data among critical criminal justice related populations. She emphasized the need for accurate and informative data to guide policy decisions for Maricopa County, and how the AARIN research platform is an excellent vehicle for that purpose. She also discussed how AARIN data has been used to provide support for grant proposals for Maricopa County agencies, private treatment providers, and community and social service organizations. A link to her presentation can be found here: Utility of AARIN.
Preliminary findings from one of the currently deployed AARIN addenda were presented. Using the veterans' addendum, AARIN is able to focus on issues particular to military veterans among Maricopa County arrestees. Providing information on the prevalence and problems associated with this subpopulation of arrestees was critical to the Maricopa County Superior Court's Exploratory Committee for a Veteran's Specialty Court. It also provided support in an application for the establishment of Veteran's Specialty Court in Maricopa County. This presentation can be found here: Military Veterans among Arrestees.
Co-occurring Disorders among Juvenile Detainees
During 2007, the Co-occurring Disorder addendum was administered to both adult and juvenile respondents. The purpose of the addendum was to provide data regarding the prevalence of co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorder risk among the arrestee population and the nature of the problems they differentially face. This presentation is linked here: Co-occurring Disorders among Juvenile Detainees.
Preliminary findings from the currently deployed AARIN Gang addenda were presented. The Gang Addendum asks all respondents about how gangs and gang activity affects their neighborhood, and whether they have been the victim of a gang-related crime. The remainder of the instrument collects detailed information about the make-up of the gang, the criminal activity of its members, the organizational structure, membership initiation and desistance, and gang and gang member cohesion characteristics for all respondents reporting current or former membership. The presentation of these preliminary findings can be found here: Gangs and Gang Members.
During 2008, as part of AARIN data collection interviews collected data on methamphetamine use and drug markets. Some of the findings from the forthcoming special topic report on the Drug Market Addendum illustrate distinct differences in the drug market characteristics of different illicit drugs, and differences in the acquisition habits of demographically different arrestees. Of particular note were the gender differences in which illicit drug was acquired, whether or not it was purchased directly, and the likelihood of a street-level acquisition. This presentation can be found here: Drug Markets.
As an example of other types of anlyses that can be conducted using AARIN data, we presented a Structural Equation Model (SEM). The analysis tested the hypothesized relationship that mental illness leads to homelessness, while simultaneously accounting for the contributions of substance abuse and violent victimization. This presentation is linked here: Mental Illness to Homelessness.
