The Usefulness of a General Risk Assessment, the Static Risk Assessment (SRA), in Predicting Pretrial Failure: Examining Predictive Ability across Gender and Race

Abstract

Abstract Approximately 60% of those in U.S. jails are awaiting trial without having been convicted of the crime for which they are being detained. We examine whether the Static Risk Assessment, a tool not specifically designed for pretrial outcomes, can predict pretrial success. As implemented in Tarrant County, Texas, the tool is predictive of failure to appear and new offending within 90 days of release pretrial using Logistic regression and area under curve analyses. Results hold across gender and race.