Open Cities Scan

The Open Cities Scan project is centered on collecting information regarding whether or not there are open and accessible data related to local criminal justice systems in major cities around the nation. When we say accessible that means that the public can download the raw data and analyze it as they see fit. 

Over 200 volunteers are assisting the Chicago Justice Project in:

• reviewing the websites of local and state-level justice agencies to seek an understanding of what, if any, data the agencies or governments make available to the public 
• capturing any available data
• collecting demographic information from each city

This project will allow the Chicago Justice Project to prioritize how we expand our transparency efforts around the country, and it will also serve as the basis for an online tool we will be building to help citizens around the country understand the accessibility of justice system data. We are over 300 cities including smaller cities -- like Louisville, KY, South Bend, IN, and Columbus, OH-- that earn their place on our list through egregious actions of their police departments and larger cities -- like Chicago, IL, New York City, NY, and Washington D.C. -- where reform is still very much necessary. We currently have a team of over two-hundred wonderful volunteers from around the world helping us do research for this project.

Volunteer Requirements

• strong analytical skills as well as research skills and proficiency with Google products
• comfortable working independently
• interested in criminal justice and police reform

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to our Nation Leads at [email protected].

If you’d like to begin the application process, complete the steps and sign up on our Get Involved page.