Portland State University selected for national criminal justice research group

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) – Portland State University has been selected to join a national research group to study criminal justice reform, which the school says, could help the state and Multnomah County.

PSU’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and its Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute were selected to join the Safety and Justice Challenge Research Consortium , PSU announced Monday.

Researchers will look at ways to improve local criminal justice systems across the nation to reduce over-reliance on jails — focusing on addressing the disproportionate impact on low-income individuals and communities of color, the university said.

“PSU’s admission into the Safety and Justice Consortium is an exciting development for criminal justice and aligns meaningfully with the great work happening across our campus to support justice and equity, reduce disproportionate negative impacts on communities of color and find pathways for people who are justice impacted,” said Ame Lambert, PSU’s vice president for Global Diversity and Inclusion. “We look forward to the opportunities for learning and impact from this collaborative effort.”

The university said their research can also benefit criminal justice reform in Multnomah County.

“We are excited to be part of this short list of institutions for several reasons. With Multnomah County being one of the Safety and Justice Challenge sites, perhaps the most exciting part is that our research will help to directly serve and inform our home city and county,” said Christopher Campbell, ​​associate professor of criminology and criminal justice.

So far, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — which created and funds the consortium — has invested $217 million in grants to over 50 jurisdictions that have implemented jail-based reforms.

“Being part of the Consortium will help us to continue to translate other work we have been doing that directly relate to the Safety and Justice Challenge,” Campbell said. “For example, since 2019, we have been examining the impacts of pretrial detention across Oregon and the utility of pretrial risk assessment. That work demonstrates ways to identify low risk defendants and release them sooner to reduce unnecessary negative impacts of due process such as job loss.”

According to PSU, their research shows that counties that actively divert prison-bound people who are convicted of low-level crimes have helped reduce racial and ethnic disparities and has reduced the state’s over-reliance on prison and jails as punishment.

The announcement comes after Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed House Bill 4002 , which rolled back voter-approved Measure 110 to recriminalize small quantities of drugs and sets guidelines for counties to create their own deflection programs. Those programs aim to connect people facing substance use disorder with treatment rather than the criminal justice system.

“This is a rather critical time for us to help provide scientific evidence for policy decisions,” Campbell said. “As counties aim to navigate the new law re-criminalizing controlled substance possession (HB 4002) and implement changes to pretrial supervision (SB 48), we aim to help the county understand how such changes impact the goal of reducing disparities in crime, justice and custody.”

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