Use Police Transparency

The Police Transparency solution delivers a set of capabilities that help you share information openly with the public, promote your agency’s work, demonstrate accountability when force is used, illustrate how workforce recruiting reflects the diversity of the community, and engage the public to improve policing services.

In this topic, you will learn how to use the Police Transparency solution by assuming various roles and using the solution to answer questions about policing topics of general interest, including understanding crime conditions in your community, learning about law enforcement use of force, discovering police-community engagement opportunities, and exploring the workforce diversity of the law enforcement agency.

Note:

Use your organization's data or configured apps to follow these workflows.

Understand crime statistics

You will assume the role of a resident in the community. You are interested in learning more about overall trends of crime in your community, and specifically about trends in burglary. You are concerned that burglaries are increasing around your home, so you’d like to be able to learn about recent burglaries in your area and print a report to take to the upcoming neighborhood meeting to ask your community policing officer what is going on and how to address the problem.

Examine statistical crime trends

Complete the following steps to learn more about overall crime trends, specifically burglary, in your community:

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click the Crime Stats page.
2. Scroll down the page to view the Crime Summary Dashboard. The dashboard displays the three main categories of crimes according to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). These categories are shown as 365-day percent change statistics, counts by year, and counts by month.

   Note:

   In January 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) changed to NIBRS from the previous Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Summary Reporting System. Links to additional details about NIBRS can be found in the resources section of the Crime Stats page.

3. To understand burglary trends specifically, scroll to the Crime Mapping Apps section and click the Crime Trends Dashboard.
4. Click the Crime Type filter and select Burglary/Breaking & Entering, then click the Filter Results tab.

   You can now view 28-day, year-to-date, and last 365-day percent change statistics, burglary counts by year, by month, and a map of incidents. Larger points on the map indicate a cluster; the larger the point, the more incidents are clustered in that area.

5. To filter for only the current year of burglaries, select This Year from the Report Date filter.

   The Crime By Year and Crime By Month charts will be updated. Additionally, the burglary clusters will change to reflect the current year only.

6. Zoom in on the map. Click a burglary cluster to view the number of burglaries in this area, then click Browse features to select a specific burglary. Click the address of the burglary to view the pop-up for that specific incident.

Explore recent crime activity

The Public Crime Map app can be used to explore recent burglary activity and create a printed report to take to your neighborhood meeting.

Complete the following steps to learn about recent burglaries in your area and print a report to take to the upcoming neighborhood meeting:

1. On the Crime Stats page, scroll to the Crime Mapping Apps section, and click Public Crime Map.

   This mapping app displays the last 28 days of crime by default and shows a list of all crimes in the community, grouped by type of crime.

2. To view all burglaries this year, click the Filter widget. In the NIBRS Offense Description filter, select Burglary/Breaking & Entering, then click the option to activate the filter.
3. In the Date of Crime filter, in the first drop-down box, select January 1 of this year.
4. In the second drop-down box, select today, then click the option to activate the filter.

   You can now view year-to-date burglaries citywide.

5. To view the burglaries near your home, go to the address search bar and enter your address. Click each burglary to learn more about the incident.

   You would like to discuss these burglaries with your neighbors and community policing officer at an upcoming community meeting.

6. Click the Report widget, then select the Point draw mode.
7. Click your home address. In the buffer distance (optional) parameter, enter a buffer distance of .25 miles, then click Report.
8. Click the add button to see a list of all burglaries within the 0.25-mile radius around your house.
9. To download these records as a CSV file, click the Download button or click the Print button to create a printable report.

   A report will be generated containing a map of your app’s current map extent and a list of the records within the search area. You can change the report title or any header text to meet your needs. You can also choose to enter additional comments in the comments box.

10. To filter for only the current year of burglaries, select This Year from the Date of Crime Report filter.

    The Crime By Year and Crime By Month charts will be updated. Additionally, the burglary hot spots will change to reflect the current year only.

11. Zoom in on the map to see individual burglaries.
12. Click a burglary to learn more about the incident.

Share your perceptions of community safety and police performance

Complete the following steps to provide feedback on your interactions with law enforcement in your community:

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site and click the Crime Stats menu tab.
2. Scroll down to the Tell Us What You Think section and click the Take the Survey button.
3. Fill in the Community Safety and Policing Satisfaction Survey to provide your feedback.
4. Click Submit.

Learn about use of force

Now you will assume the role of a community leader. You have recently been appointed to a police oversight board responsible for reviewing use of force incidents in the community. To perform this role, you need to first gain a basic understanding of how and why force is used by law enforcement, racial equity implications of its use, and then dig deeper to understand patterns in the use of force by the subjects of force, officers involved, and by neighborhood.

Gain a basic understanding of use of force

Complete the following steps to learn more about use of force in your community:

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click the Use Of Force page.
2. Scroll down to view the Key Use of Force Metrics.

   These three charts show total use of force incidents, use of force incidents involving a serious injury requiring medical care or hospitalization, and fatal use of force incidents.

3. Scroll to the How Often Do We Use Force? section.

   This section displays charts illustrating the infrequency of use of force relative to the total scope of police interactions with citizens, and how few are determined to be inconsistent with policy.

4. Scroll down to the Why Do Officers Use Force? section.

   This section helps you understand what types of incidents are most likely to result in force, the type of resistance officers are encountering that require use of force, and the type of force applied.

5. Scroll down to the Racial Equity section.

   This section displays a dashboard that examines the distribution of subject of force and officers involved by race and ethnicity, compared to the racial and ethnic composition of the community overall.

6. Click the Force Level or Date drop-down filters to further refine these metrics.
7. Click the Officers Involved tab to visualize the distribution of officers involved in use of force incidents by race and ethnicity relative to community composition.

Explore characteristics of subjects of force

The Use of Force by Subject dashboard helps the public explore the characteristics of use of force in your neighborhood and compare through the perspectives of demographics, context of the incident, condition of the subjects, and location. Use the filters to set criteria, then click any bar in the charts to refine the results. For example, you may want to know more about the characteristics of subjects of electric force through conducted electrical devices such as Tasers or stun guns.

Complete the following steps to dig deeper into the topic of use of force by exploring the characteristics of the persons subjected to force:

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click the Use Of Force page.
2. Scroll down to view the Gain a Deeper Understanding section.
3. Click Use of Force by Subject.
4. In the Force Type drop-down filter, select a type of force.
5. Click the Incident Context tab to see the proportion of incidents that were found to be inconsistent with policy.
6. Click the Out of Policy slice of the Result of Internal Review pie chart.
7. Click the Map tab to view the selected incidents symbolized by color according to the race and ethnicity of the subject of force.

   The colors correspond to another layer in the map, the Predominant Race and Ethnicity by Census Tract, an ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World layer based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

8. Click the Legend tool in the map to understand how color corresponds to race and ethnic group.

   The presence of both layers on the map allows us to understand the relationship between the race and ethnicity of the residents of an area and who is subjected to force there, and to recognize patterns in which force is being applied to a particular group disproportionately to its community composition.

9. Click a polygon in the Predominant Race by Tract layer.

The pop-up displays which race or ethnic group is predominant in that tract as well as the resident counts of all other race and ethnic groups within the tract.

Explore characteristics of officers applying force

The Use of Force by Officer dashboard helps the public explore the characteristics of officers applying force through the perspectives of demographics, context of the incident, and location. Use the filters to set criteria, then click any bar in the charts to refine the results. For example, you may want to know more about the characteristics of officers who apply force resulting in serious injury or death.

Complete the following steps to dig deeper into the topic of use of force by exploring the characteristics of the persons subjected to force:

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click the Use Of Force page.
2. Scroll down to view the Gain a Deeper Understanding section.
3. Click Use of Force by Officer.
4. In the Force Level drop-down filter, select a force level.
5. Click the Incident Context tab to view the incident contexts most frequently associated with the level of force you selected.
6. Click a category on the Call Type bar chart. This further filters the dashboard, allowing you to explore the characteristics of officers involved specifically in the force level and call type you have selected.
7. Click back on the Demographics tab.
8. Follow steps 6 through 8 of the Explore characteristics of subjects of force section in this topic to learn about the spatial distribution of race and ethnicity and community composition.

Explore use of force incidents by neighborhood

The Use of Force by Neighborhood dashboard helps the public explore the characteristics of use of force in their neighborhood and to compare it to other neighborhoods and the community overall. Use the filters to set criteria, then click any bar in the charts to refine the results. For example, you may want to know more about the characteristics of use of force incidents in your neighborhood and how they compare to nearby neighborhoods.

Complete the following steps to explore the characteristics of use of force incidents in your neighborhood and compare them to other neighborhoods and the community overall.

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click the Use Of Force page.
2. Scroll down to view the Gain a Deeper Understanding section. Click Use of Force by Neighborhood.
3. In the Neighborhood drop-down filter, select a neighborhood.

   The map zooms to your neighborhood boundaries and filters the content. The charts automatically adjust to your filter selection. You can see from the filtered charts use of force incidents the trend in use of force incidents overall, and the frequency of serious injury or fatal incidents.

4. In the Neighborhood drop-down filter, select a different neighborhood.

   You can now compare the overall, serious injury, and fatal trends in use of force incidents between the two neighborhoods.

5. Click the Details tab to review and contrast demographic characteristics of subjects of use of force, the type of force applied, and the type of calls in which force most frequently occurs.
6. Follow steps 6 through 8 of the Explore characteristics of subjects of force section in this topic to learn about the spatial distribution of race and ethnicity and community composition.

Discover community engagement opportunities

Now you will assume the role of a concerned business owner. You want to become more active in working with your department to be involved with your community. To perform this role, you’ll need to learn how to get connected to police by finding your community officer, provide feedback on your experiences, and get information on upcoming police community events in which you can participate.

Submit feedback on a police interaction

Complete the following steps to provide feedback to the department on your recent experience as a crime victim:

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site and click the Community Engagement menu tab.
2. Scroll down to the Engaging the Community section and under How Did We Do?, click Complete Survey.
3. Fill in the Police Interaction Survey to provide your feedback.
4. Click Submit.

Explore law enforcement workforce diversity

You will assume the role of a local media reporter. You are writing a story about representation of women and communities of color in policing. You want to learn more about the composition of the workforce of the local law enforcement agency and how that compares to the community overall.

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site and click the Workforce Diversity menu tab.
2. Scroll down to the Law Enforcement Diversity Dashboard.

   The summary tab of the dashboard displays the percentage of employees in each demographic group listed.

   Note:

   Under each demographic group, a text box indicates the percentage that group represents in the community overall. This information allows you to quickly identify which demographic groups are overrepresented in the police workforce relative to the composition of the community.

3. To view civilian employees only, go to the Rank drop-down filter and select Civilian.

   The demographic percentages will adjust to your selection. This will allow you to compare representation of sworn employees versus civilian employees.

4. To view all sworn employees, deselect Civilian in the drop-down filter and select all other ranks.
5. Click the Details tab.

   The Details tab allows you to visualize and interact with various diversity metrics of the workforce.

6. Click the Black Female section of the Race and Gender bar chart to learn more about representation of Black females in the department.

   The charts and metrics automatically adjust based on your selection.

7. Click the Black Female section of the Race and Gender bar chart to turn off the selection.