Miscellaneous

Starting Your Day in a Mathy Way

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Statistics!

When we were at NCSC, that's all our constituents ever wanted. How many? How often? Who was first? Last? Oldest? Newest? Biggest? Smallest? Most important?

Usually we had no idea. People just don't count that many things, and when they do they do not do it in a way that invites comparison.

When we did know the answer, it was important to point out (particularly to reporters) the apples vs. oranges. "Among the oldest," and "one of the first," were two commonly-suggested phrases.

But we're in a statsy mood this morning, so here are some facts:

• The number of children adopted in the UK has reached a 10-year low. Wonder if they're celebrating National Adoption Month across the pond, too?


• One in 50 Palo Alto residents is black; Palo Alto police pull over 1 in 7 black drivers. Palo Alto police search whites who are pulled over 5-10% of the time; for blacks the number is 20%. Whites are released without being cited 23% of the time; blacks are released without citation 36% of the time. But, no conclusive evidence of profiling has been determined, because most of the drivers pulled over are not from around there. (Does that matter?)


• Of 414 cases of escape or attempted escape by federal prisoners studied by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, 14 (3.4%) involved force or threat of force against a person during the escape or apprehension. Thirty cases (7.2%) involved a weapon. Twelve cases (2.9%) involved injury.


• Happy Fraud Awareness Week! Celebrate by boning up on Internet Fraud, Scam and Crime Statstics from Consumer Fraud Reporting, and by refusing any and all wooden nickels.

Want more? Try NCSC's Court Statistics Project, Florida's Trial Court Statistics, and Juvenile Court Statistics (1985-2005) from NCJRS.

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on November 12, 2008 (boomark / email).