Failure No. 1: Risk Assessments Were Rushed to Use Without Proper Study
A risk assessment uses an algorithm to make predictions about certain groups. In the area of pretrial risk assessments, the algorithm was touted as the solution to making pretrial release determinations. The representation was that risk assessments could accurately predict whether an individual is a low, medium or high risk for failing to appear or at risk of re-offending. The hope or the promise for these tools was that they would allow courts to automatically and quickly determine the status of an individual and more quickly and more accurately make release decisions.
However, the promises of what would be achieved by these pretrial risk assessments never met the real world reality of what they represent . . .