KEY IDEAS:
- District attorney offices are managing rapidly growing volumes of digital evidence across fragmented systems.
- Disconnected data slows casework, limits visibility, and makes it harder to deliver timely, transparent outcomes.
- Integrating data creates a unified, real-time view of cases across agencies.
- With unified data and practical AI applications, DA offices can make faster decisions, improve accountability, and build stronger public trust
District attorney offices are under increasing pressure. Workloads are rising, cases are more complex, and digital evidence volumes have surged. Meanwhile, expectations from law enforcement, government leaders, and the public continue to grow. DA offices are now expected to deliver faster insights, better outcomes, and greater transparency.
But more data hasn’t made this easier. In many offices:
- Critical information remains fragmented across systems and agencies
- Legacy technology is limited and cannot keep up with scale
- Teams are left without a clear, unified view of their operations
Modernizing DA operations requires a new approach:
- Integrate fragmented data
- Apply artificial intelligence (AI) in practical ways
- Improve information sharing across agencies
To understand how leading offices are tackling these challenges, we co-hosted a panel with the National District Attorneys Association to discuss how leading district attorney offices are transforming fragmented data into faster decisions, stronger transparency, and better outcomes.
🤝 MEET THE EXPERTS
- Simon O’Connell, Chief Assistant District Attorney, Contra Costa County
- Vern Pierson, District Attorney, El Dorado County
- Rhoda Pilmer, Assistant District Attorney, 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office (Colorado)
- Chelsey Potter Greenwood, Investigations Technician and Data Analyst, Larimer County District Attorney’s Office
- Karen Schweihs, 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office (Colorado)
The growing data crisis in district attorney offices
Cases have become more complex as DA offices receive massive volumes of digital evidence. In Colorado, workloads have surged since 2020, when body-worn cameras became mandatory for law enforcement interactions.
“Digital evidence has exploded,” said Karen Schweihs, who works at the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado. “Homicide cases have hours and hours — hundreds of body cams, photos, drone footage, FARO scans, everything that goes into that case.”
📊 HOW CASE COMPLEXITY IS INCREASING
- Some DA offices report up to a 67% increase in case complexity due to rising volumes of digital evidence
- Body-worn camera mandates have significantly increased evidence per case
Many DA offices are also facing resource and staffing limitations while responding to increased reporting demands. However, in many cases, having more data has made it harder to see what actually matters.
“There's a massive amount of digital information, an abyss that doesn't show up in our formal case files,” said Simon O’Connell, Chief Assistant District Attorney in Contra Costa County.
The hidden costs of siloed data systems for district attorney offices
District attorney offices often rely on rigid case management systems (CMS) that can’t scale to meet current demands. These systems depend on manual data entry, leading to:
- Data quality issues
- Incomplete analysis
- Delays in time-sensitive information
Why DA offices deal with data fragmentation
CMS solutions are just one piece of the puzzle. DA offices also rely on separate systems for:
- Digital evidence
- Court records
- Booking information
- Other key information
However, these disparate systems are not designed to work together, creating fragmented data environments that limit visibility.
“We were quick to grab every platform we possibly could to try and gain some data competence,” O’Connell said. “We lacked a real data literacy of understanding what we were actually utilizing those databases for.”
Impacts of data silos for DA offices
The result is a frustrating reality: The data exists, but it’s difficult to access or action.
“It's something I would call organizational amnesia,” said El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson. “It's there, and you know it's there, but how do you find it, and how do you use it?”
These challenges extend beyond internal systems. Prosecutors rely on collaboration with law enforcement and other agencies, but siloed systems make it difficult to share information or identify connections.
“When it came time to share that information, it essentially became the Pony Express: the sharing of a police report or a phone call back and forth, without any connectivity … beyond just one siloed case to another,” O’Connell said.
These inefficiencies don’t just slow workflows; they can impact public safety.
“Offenders don't always follow jurisdictional lines,” Schweihs said. “When the courts can't communicate with each other and the systems don't communicate, it's harder to find them and move forward with effective prosecution.”
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS: THE COST OF FRAGMENTED DATA
- Critical case data is spread across multiple systems.
- Manual data retrieval slows investigations and case preparation.
- Lack of integration prevents cross-case insights.
- Poor data sharing can impact public safety and case outcomes.
Why case visibility is critical for district attorney offices
DAs must be able to quickly answer case inquiries from the public, but many offices lack easy access to accurate, up-to-date case information.
“Most of those phone calls are, ‘we'll get back to you,’” O’Connell said. “It falls off the ledge and there's no follow-up. It leaves dissatisfaction for that city council member, that constituent.”
Even simple questions require hours of manual effort when dealing with disconnected and outdated information systems. Without real-time visibility, responses are delayed and accountability suffers, which erodes public trust over time.
💡 WHAT HAPPENS WITHOUT UNIFIED CASE VISIBILITY?
- Case inquiries require manual follow-up across multiple systems.
- Responses are delayed or incomplete.
- Accountability breaks down.
- Public trust erodes over time.
How data integration transforms district attorney workflows
DA offices can address data fragmentation by:
- Integrating data
- Applying practical AI workflows
- Improving cross-agency data sharing
Data integration unifies fragmented systems, bringing together case management, law enforcement, court, and evidence data into a single, searchable view.
💡 WHAT IS DATA INTEGRATION FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY OFFICES?
Data integration connects case management, law enforcement, court, and evidence systems into a single, unified view, allowing prosecutors to search and analyze data in real time.
Instead of navigating multiple platforms, DA personnel can access real-time, unified information in one place. Solutions like Peregrine act as the connective tissue across these systems, providing a central access point for case data. As a result, teams can:
- Move faster
- Reduce manual work
- Gain clearer insights into their operations
🔎 HOW DATA INTEGRATION IMPROVES PROSECUTOR WORKFLOWS
- Unifies data across systems into a single view
- Provides real-time case visibility
- Supports automated intake and routing
- Enables faster case preparation and decisions
- Creates a foundation for AI and analytics
Case study: How unified data helps DA offices answer case questions in seconds
Data integration improves visibility, allowing DA offices to respond faster and with greater confidence. O’Connell shared a common scenario: A city councilmember calls the DA’s office, asking about the status of a robbery case. Without unified data, that question could take hours to answer — or go unanswered entirely.
Peregrine can surface the answer in mere seconds.
“This was a way to consolidate all the information that we were getting from the courts, from our law enforcement partners, from our own internal system, and all the other places,” O’Connell said. “Peregrine allows a search feature for us that's very much free-form data.”
Using Peregrine’s unified search, O’Connell was able to:
- Quickly identify the case
- Review its outcome
- confirm that the defendant was serving a prison sentence
“Peregrine has given us the entire spoke of the wheel right in the center for us to access that information,” O’Connell said.
Data integration allows DA offices to access real-time case information with ease, improving responsiveness and building trust.
DA office data: Before vs. after integration
| BEFORE PEREGRINE | AFTER PEREGRINE |
|---|---|
| Manual case lookups in individual systems | Unified search across all systems |
| Delayed or missing responses | Real-time case status access |
| Limited visibility into case outcomes | Faster, more accurate responses |
How district attorney offices use AI in practice
💡 HOW DO DA OFFICES USE AI TO STREAMLINE OPERATIONS?
- Automate summaries of reports and evidence
- Instantly turn large volumes of data into simple investigative timelines
- Support search and data analysis
- Query complex datasets
Artificial intelligence builds on integrated data to help prosecutors work faster and more accurately. For example, Pierson described how AI could instantly scour large volumes of case materials to generate a timeline highlighting key events. The result: Work that would normally take hours, completed in minutes.
“There is so much that it can do to make you faster and more accurate in our profession as prosecutors,” Pierson said.
AI is also transforming how offices analyze their own data. Chelsey Potter Greenwood, Investigations Technician and Data Analyst at the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office, said she uses AI tools to generate SQL code for internal analysis.
“We have explored worlds of data in the last two months that we never could before,” Potter Greenwood said. “And then we're able to interpret that.”
These capabilities are helping DA offices move faster and uncover insights that were previously out of reach.
🔎 WHAT ARE BEST PRACTICES FOR AI IN PROSECUTION?
AI doesn’t replace human judgment. To maintain public trust, DA offices must consider:
- Human review
- Disclosure of use
- Governance
- Clear policies
- CJIS compliance
How data-driven strategies improve decision-making and transparency in DA offices
Data integration and AI give DA offices clearer visibility into:
- Case activity
- Workloads
- Trends
For example, in Colorado, standardized data from a centralized case management system powers internal and public-facing dashboards across 18 judicial districts. These dashboards help offices track performance, identify priorities, and improve operations — without adding significant overhead.
📊 WHAT DO DISTRICT ATTORNEY DASHBOARDS REVEAL?
- Case aging trends (e.g., 120+ day cases)
- Workload distribution across teams
- Increasing case complexity
- Opportunities for diversion or prioritization
Internal decision-making
Internal dashboards give prosecutors a more detailed view of their caseloads. For example, Colorado offices track cases older than 120 days, helping teams prioritize work and identify opportunities for diversion.
“We’re educating some of our younger attorneys around where they need to focus their time and energy,” said Rhoda Pilmer, Assistant District Attorney at the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
At the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office, dashboards also helped quantify rising case complexity. By measuring incoming evidence volume, the office developed a multiplier to track how workloads have changed over time. Potter Greenwood said they saw a 67% increase in case complexity and personnel workloads due to a large influx of data from body-worn cameras.
“We were able to get a new position in the county court to support that,” she said.
External transparency
These same systems also support public transparency. Today, most Colorado DA offices publish dashboards displaying metrics such as case outcomes, referrals, and caseloads.
“With the criminal justice reforms that our communities expect, transparency is on the No. 1 list,” Pilmer said. “Colorado really took ownership of that and wanted to show the community the work that their district attorneys were doing.”
By making this data accessible, DA offices can:
- Improve accountability
- Build public trust
- Clearly demonstrate the impact of their work
Breaking down silos across criminal justice agencies
When data is standardized and shared, it enables coordinated action across the entire justice system. Colorado’s dashboards enhance collaboration across DA offices and law enforcement agencies alike.
“Our office, because of the dashboard, was able to be a leader in sharing data, to then work with police departments to share data back with us,” Schweihs said.
💡 WHY IS CROSS-AGENCY DATA SHARING IMPORTANT IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE?
- Offenders often move across jurisdictions.
- Agencies track data differently without standardization.
- Shared data enables coordinated investigations and interventions.
- Collaboration improves public safety outcomes.
However, effective collaboration requires a shared understanding of data. Different agencies often define and track outcomes differently, making it difficult to align on what success actually means. For example, as the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office began analyzing gun violence data across agencies, they had to align on definitions and metrics to ensure consistency.
“As you're pulling all the different criminal justice data, you're trying to make sure that what you're looking at is the same thing,” Schweihs said.
Peregrine helps agencies create a common operating picture to support coordinated, data-driven strategies.
🔎 BENEFITS OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN DA OFFICES AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS:
- Improved case coordination across jurisdictions
- More effective, data-driven interventions
- Better support for victims
- Greater ability to address complex, multi-agency cases
Modernize district attorney operations with Peregrine
District attorney offices are being asked to do more with increasingly complex data. But fragmented systems make it difficult to access information, prioritize cases, and identify trends.
Peregrine helps DA offices modernize operations by bringing together three critical capabilities:
- Integrated data
- Practical AI
- Seamless information sharing across agencies
Peregrine enables teams to work faster, make better decisions, and operate with greater transparency.
🔎 HOW PEREGRINE HELPS MODERNIZE DA OPERATIONS
- Integrates data across systems
- Enables practical AI workflows
- Supports cross-agency collaboration
- Improves speed, transparency, and decision-making
To see how Peregrine can support your office, request a demo.
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