In 2016, the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office launched a new division called the High Priority Offender Unit (HPO for short).  The idea was that prosecutors would use data from a defendant’s prior criminal history to assess whether this defendant is – compared to other criminal defendants –  disproportionately committing crimes.  By 2017 the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office claimed to have sent more than 650 HPOs to prison, which – they claim –dramatically reduced crime in the community. All of these claims range from suspicious to flat out untrue.