California Launches Mandatory Data Collection For Police Use-of-Force (seattletimes.com)

An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes the AP: All 800 police departments in California must begin using a new online tool launched Thursday to report and help track every time officers use force that causes serious injuries... The tool, named URSUS for the bear on California's flag, includes fields for the race of those injured and the officers involved, how their interaction began and why force was deemed necessary.

"It's sort of like TurboTax for use-of-force incidents," said Justin Erlich, a special assistant attorney general overseeing the data collection and analysis. Departments must report the data under a new state law passed last November. Though some departments already tracked such data on their own, many did not... "As a country, we must engage in an honest, transparent, and data-driven conversation about police use of force," California Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a news release.
It's an open source tool developed by Bayes Impact, and California plans to share the code with other interested law enforcement agencies across the country. Only three other states currently require their police departments to track data about use-of-force incidents, "but their systems aren't digital, and in Colorado's case, only capture shootings."

Comments

Re:Well, that's a start.

[BarbaraHudson]

Won't make a difference. The Guardian's investigation showed that even police forces that were supposed to record all police shootings didn't, and that includes fatal shootings.

Re:And What Will Come of It?

[OzPeter]

but there is nothing intrinsically different about police officers that makes them honest.
You mean other than their training?

Just as a counterpoint to your example.

1. Officer Sherry Hall from Georgia who claimed that a black guy shot her. Who has now been charged with fabricating that story as well as various other offenses.
2. Officer Jason Stockley from St Louis kills guy then plants gun on him.
3. Officer Mark Wayne Rowe from VA Beach stealing gun bags from the evidence room
4. Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy Wayne Wagner beats up on a woman and then accuses her of battery of him.
etc etc

So yeah, right. Training.

But what is non-sensical is (former) Officer Stephen Mader from Weirton Wha who was basically fired because he didn't shoot a suicidal man with a gun. Mader who is a former Marine had surveyed the situation, decided that the man in question was not really a threat and was trying to talk him down. Two other officers arrived, decided that the guy was dangerous and shot him dead. Mader was fired because his actions put the other officers at risk. Oh yeah, the gun was unloaded.

Re:And What Will Come of It?

[Uberbah]

You mean other than their training? Compare what an officer is trained to see to a recent shooting in my area.

You mean an anecdote? How about we look at the numbers of people who have been released from prison after being proved innocent, who were badgered into confessing by police interrogators - 65 out of 149 last year. Like prosecutors, cops are far, far, far more interested in "winning" than in actual justice.

And cops invariably lie when caught in an unjustified shooting, to cover their own asses. If a cop tells you that nighttime is darker than daytime? Go outside after sundown to check and make sure he was telling the truth.