HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 2, 2016 — (PRNewswire) —  One month after releasing an interactive map showing releases by year and county, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has now created an interactive map that shows admissions to the DOC by committing county and year.

"Our Office of Planning, Research and Statistics, which is headed by Dr. Bret Bucklen, is on the leading edge of technology both in the way it captures data and how it reports data," Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said.  "Our goals are to be transparent and to use data to drive policy. With these maps, everyone can obtain the information and drive down into data that is from their local areas.  This helps them to potentially determine needs and services that may be required in the local communities for not only those leaving our system, but also potentially for those entering the DOC."

Wetzel also said that the agency receives numerous requests for this statistical data from researchers, other state agencies and college students.

The interactive map, which is available on the DOC's website, provides statewide admissions totals for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015, broken down by type of admission, such as new court commitments and parole violators. In addition, individual county information includes gender, race and risk scores.

The risk score is a risk screening tool that was developed and is used by DOC staff to determining an offender's general risk to re-offend after his/her release from prison.  According to the tool, individuals are classified as low, medium or high risk for re-offending.  This helps to show the general risk composition of different individuals returning to communities.

The DOC will continue to update both the admissions and releases maps with new tabs as each subsequent year's statistical information becomes available.

Individuals can access this new, interactive map at www.cor.pa.gov

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SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Corrections