For several years, the Statistical Analysis Center has conducted analyses on Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) with a focus on 6 counties: Brown, Dane, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine, and Rock.

DMC reports from OJA use the Relative Rate Index approach to measuring contacts - the same methodology used by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Nine points of contact with the juvenile justice system (arrest through transfer to adult court) are examined to statistically determine the existence of over-representation of any particular population.   

Disproportionate Minority Contact, An Analysis of Brown, Dane, Kenosha Milwaukee, Racine and Rock Counties, 2002-2005

This study found that minority youth in the six counties were 1.6 times more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts. Further, minority youth were 2 times more likely to be detained securely and 3 times more likely to be placed in a secure juvenile correctional facility. The data also suggests, however, that the overall number of minority youth confined decreased from 482 to 275 between 2002 and 2005.

In April 2007, Governor Jim Doyle established the Commission on Reducing Racial Disparities in the Wisconsin Justice System to study and propose solutions for racial disparities found in Wisconsin’s criminal justice system. 

Commission findings and recommended strategies for reducing racial disparities at each stage of the state’s justice system will be delivered this fall. For more information about the Commission and its work, see www.EqualJustice.wi.gov.

Last Modified:  3/3/2009 3:52:54 PM

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