Steve Stirling & Disha Raychaudhuri The force report

How we built the largest statewide database of police use of force The Force Report How we built the largest statewide database of police use of force

Why now? A July 2017 New Jersey court ruling made several elements of police data part of public records for the first time: Use of force reports Dash-cam videos Witness statements and detailed investigative reports

We wanted all of it.

We started by requesting use of force forms from the Attorney General’s Office. They didn’t have it.

So we went to the 21 counties. They didn’t have it either.

That left us to file requests with the 467 municipal police departments and the State Police. So that’s what we did.

That’s what we got back

Many of them were handwritten. Some were partially redacted.

We contracted a third-party company to help with the data entry. We also set up a comprehensive daily audit process to check what they sent us. It took nearly 5 months.

Then we cleaned...

And cleaned...

And cleaned...

Till we had this:

We started analysis but then realized that Sgt We started analysis but then realized that Sgt. John Smith may be spelling his name as J. Smith or Johnny S. or John A. Smith on different forms. Or misspelling their own name.

So we cleaned some more.

It took nearly a year but we ended up with a database of every use of force by a police officer in New Jersey over 2012-2016.

Which allowed us to do this:

And build force.nj.com

Contact us: @SStirling @Disha_RC Stephen Stirling: sstirling@njadvancemedia.com Disha Raychaudhuri: draychaudhuri@njadvancemedia.com @SStirling @Disha_RC

Maira Khwaja & Chaclyn Hunt invisible institute / citizens police data project

Search by officer name

Freedom of Information Act document requests from Invisible Institute https://invisible.institute/foia/ Click the link to view an Airtable of requests the Invisible Institute has made. We sort them by whether the process is complete. Then whether the information has been requested without a response, if the response has been to extend the time limit on response, and whether the request was fulfilled or denied. To see the collections of data we have received, visit Invisible Institute’s GitHub.

FOIA Airtable

Michael Morisy muckrock

Opening Government Together with Public Records MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com DocumentCloud, to analyze, archive, and share primary-source documents. MuckRock, to file, track, and share FOIA requests. Quackbot, to do journalism and transparency work from within Slack. FOIA Machine, to track requests you want to file directly. oTranscribe, to more easily and secure transcribe audio and video. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Since 2010, our tools have helped over 100,000 journalists, researchers, and everyday people open up government and better understand our world. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Track requests, from start to finish MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Filed over 57,756 requests in all 50 states + federal. Released 3,809,373 pages of documents. Filed with over 12,000 agencies. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Average Response Time MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Over 40,000 requests to use language from. Hundreds of sample appeals. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Community Justice Network used to show their work with public, from initial request to supporting documents. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Campaign Zero used multirequest tool to request police union contracts, use of force policies, and more with hundreds of agencies at once. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com DocumentCloud makes it easier to store, analyze, and share primary source documents. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com Crowdsourcing tools help turn documents into data and engage your community. MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com And Remember: MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

@MuckRock / MuckRock.com michael@muckrock.com info@muckrock.com MuckRock @MuckRock / MuckRock.com

10 minute break

Audience q&A: - The nuts and bolts of public records requests - building digital and/or public platforms for law enforcement data

Thank you very much!