Steve Aos
- Morning Session (March 19, 8:30 - 10 a.m.)
- Organization: Washington State Institute for Public Policy
- Presentation Title: The Top of the Criminal Justice Food Chain: Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison Construction, Taxpayer Costs, and Crime Rates
Presentation Overview
This presentation describes how cost-beneficial investments in evidence-based prevention, juvenile justice, and
adult corrections programs can do two things: reduce crime rates and lower costs to taxpayers and victims. Using data
for Washington State, the presentation illustrates a long-term forecast of how a focused statewide portfolio of
investments can lead to reductions in state crime rates, prison capacity growth, and overall taxpayer costs of the
criminal justice system. The presentation also describes how this information is being used by state and local
governments in Washington to adjust the state's portfolio of crime fighting resources.
Biographical Sketch
Steve Aos is the Assistant Director of the Washington State Institute
for Public Policy, an applied research group of the Washington State
legislature. He has 31 years of experience in conducting cost-benefit
analyses and in communicating the results to policy makers in a wide
range of public policy areas, as well as in the private sector. His
current work focuses on identifying and evaluating the costs and
benefits of programs and policies that reduce crime, improve K-12
educational outcomes, reduce substance abuse and tobacco use, and reduce
child abuse and neglect. He also has many years of experience in energy
economics and regulatory policy. He has worked for the Washington State
Budget Office, Seattle City Light, The Northwest Power Planning Council,
the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, and he has run
his own consulting firm where he wrote a newsletter on Washington
State's economy. He received an MS from the University of California,
Irvine.
