Standardize Data Reporting on Police Misconduct
Police violence is a national issue that is almost entirely determined by local decision-making. Without a standardization in definitions and data collection there will be no way to determine the depth of police misconduct within the 18,000 police departments across the country. Getting more uniform data requires top-down requirements provided by the federal government. These requirements should be a condition of receiving law enforcement funding. Standardized data reporting should also be a requirement of consent decrees between police departments and the federal government.
These requirements must include:
- Creating clear definition for police misconduct and its categories (such as excessive force, extended detention, false arrest, failure to provide medical care, illegal search/seizure, malicious prosecution, and wrongful death with vehicle pursuit. Many cities do not have clear definitions, may vary in the number of categories, or lack consistent criteria in categorizing incidents making analyzing data difficult.
- Require improvements in record-keeping and transparency. Example: Illinois' Consent Decree required the Chicago Police Department to institute a series of reforms designed to increase public trust and reduce crime through safe and effective constitutional policing practices.
The federal government must make meaningful analysis of police misconduct possible,Cities across our country need to be tracking and reporting their data in the same way over a sustained period of time.
Resources:
fivethirtyeight [dot] com/features/police-misconduct-costs-cities-millions-every-year-but-thats-where-the-accountability-ends/
sci.usc [dot] edu/police-misconduct-registry/
