Episode 47: Your Questions, Your Power with Guests Finesse Moreno-Rivera & Kelly Childress

We’re back with the first episode of 2023 and this time we’re joined by two amazing, data-driven women: Finesse Moreno-Rivera and Kelly Childress. After hearing more about each of their backgrounds, they dive into discussing Finesse’s USA Today article and the importance of learning how to interact with law enforcement. Finesse and Kelly focus on analyzing data when it comes to policing - looking at minor violations, traffic stops, etc. - and emphasize the lack of complete data available because police agencies are not required to report it. Community members need to know that they can and should ask their police agencies what they’re currently tracking, as well as ask them to track data they aren’t. This is an important aspect of holding police accountable!

BJ, Kelly, and Finesse discuss the amount of people leaving the police force, the next generation of law enforcement that will provide the change communities want to see in the system, and moving past the “tough on crime” rhetoric to focus on serving people. They also share their thoughts on how the media impacts the way people view crime/police - there’s always more to the story and data than is shared in the media’s short sound-bites.

Finesse and Kelly also emphasize the importance of making data more accessible to the community so they can easily view and understand it, which helps them make informed decisions and push for change. They end the show by discussing a variety of topics, from the importance of education and getting out of the school-to-prison pipeline, to the push-back they get on their work regarding policing, to what we can do to change the community’s perspective on policing, and what makes citizens noncompliant.

Read Finesse’s USA Today article

More about Finesse Moreno-Rivera:
Finesse received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and a M.A. in Forensic Psychology from Roger Williams University. Throughout graduate school and post academia, Finesse has worked at the state and federal level conducting research, criminal investigations and serving the forensic population through various phases of criminal proceedings such as supervision, court room representation and assisting prisoners with reentry programs. Her previous work has focused on data analysis examining opioid replacement programs, criminal profiling, sentencing guidelines, data transparency efforts for law enforcement entities and legislation analysis.

 

For example, during her time at the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, her review of the Pennsylvania Probation and Parole board data was to ensure that their assessment was validated and scientifically sound when assessing the release of inmates. In addition, Finesse’s work with the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, has been utilized in many congressional hearings for talking points in assessing and developing policies for programs such as the Second Chance Act. In previous hearings, former Attorney General William Barr utilized her analysis to determine funding needed, impact and progress of the policy. Her passions continue to be criminal justice reform and the utilization of data and policy analysis in the criminal justice field.

More about Kelly Childress:
Kelly Childress received her Master’s of Sociology with a concentration in criminology from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). While at UNCG, she worked on numerous projects examining topics such as the prison-to-school pipeline, racial bias policing, and reentry programming for formerly incarcerated women.

Her graduate thesis, “Life Histories of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women” examined the lives of six formerly incarcerated women to identify familial and personal relationships, trauma, and other experiences linked to incarceration for women. It became apparent that lack of access to resources and trauma created pathways into the criminal justice system for Black women.

In addition, she has worked in the school system and social services. Currently, she is working as a program coordinator for the homeless. Kelly is passionate about advocating for trauma-informed policing and criminal justice reform. She also has a passion for data. Through her work with You and Five-O, she has helped to provide insight into systemic issues with the criminal justice system and the effects of generational trauma within Black and Brown communities as it pertains to the criminal justice system.