Key Facts

• Michigan’s Department of Corrections plans to test the system at selected men’s facilities starting December 1.
• Classification levels can affect prisoners’ movement, supervision and access to activities and programs.
• Michigan currently uses security Levels I, II, IV and V; it has no Level III.
• The state says the new approach will use data analyzed on an ongoing basis instead of relying only on information gathered at scheduled intervals.
• Michigan supervises about 32,000 incarcerated people and worked with nonprofit technology organization Recidiviz to develop the system.
• The department says the tool could make predictions of future violence about 30 percent more accurate, but its public announcement does not explain how it calculated the figure.
• Michigan describes the system as using evidence-based and historical data; Recidiviz says its broader corrections platform uses data, automation and AI.
• The department plans to assess the pilot before deciding whether to expand the system.