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 recruiting reflects the diversity of the community and engage the public to improve policing services and solve problems.

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.

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 in order to ask your local community policing officer what is going on and how to address the problem.

Examine statistical trends of crime

Follow the steps below 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:

   The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is changing to NIBRS from the previous Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Summary Reporting System as of January 1, 2021. 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 burglary hotspots.

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 hot spots will change to reflect the current year only.

6. Zoom in on the map. As you zoom in, individual burglaries appear. Click on the burglary to learn more about the 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.

Follow the steps below to learn about recent burglaries in your area and print a report to take to the upcoming neighborhood meeting.

1. In 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 on the radio button to activate the filter.
3. In the Date of Crime Filter, select the date in the first drop-down box, then select January 1st, 2020 from the calendar.
4. In the second drop-down box select today, then click the radio button 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 25 W Jefferson Ave, Naperville, IL. Click on 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 on your home address. In the buffer distance (optional) parameter, enter a buffer distance of .25 miles, then click Report.
8. Click on the plus icon to see a list of all burglaries within the 0.25 mile radius around your house.
9. To download these records as a CSV, 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 in additional comments into 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 appear.
12. Click on a burglary to learn more about the incident.

Share your perceptions of community safety and police performance

Follow the steps below 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 How We’re Doing section and click Take the Survey button
3. Fill out 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 within 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 use of force

Follow the steps below 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 the page 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 further down 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 an app 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. In the data on our example site, Black people are over represented as subjects of use of force, as 58% of subjects of force were Black, in a community only 32% Black.

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

Again, in our example, Whites are over represented as officers using force (83.7%) relative to the White population in the community (31.7%).

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 on any bar in the charts to refine the results. For example, you may like to know more about the characteristics of subjects of electric force via conducted electrical devices like Tasers or stun guns.

Follow the steps below 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 on the Use Of Force page.
2. Scroll down the page to view the Gain a Deeper Understanding section.
3. Click on Use of Force by Subject.
4. In the Force Type drop-down filter, select Electric.
5. Click the Incident Context tab to see the proportion of incidents were found to be inconsistent with policy.
6. Click the Out of Policy slice of the Result of Internal Review pie chart.

   You can apply an additional filter to the dashboard to explore the characteristics of all subjects of electronic force that were inconsistent with policy guidelines. This enables community leaders to explore for problematic patterns that may require recommendations for policy or training revisions.

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 on the map, the Predominant Race and Ethnicity by Census Tract, an ArcGIS Online Living Atlas layer based upon 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 enables us to easily 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 where 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 on any bar in the charts to refine the results. For example, you may like to know more about the characteristics of officers who apply force resulting in serious injury or death.

Follow the steps below 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 on the Use Of Force page.
2. Scroll down the page to view the Gain a Deeper Understanding section.
3. Click on Use of Force by Officer.
4. In the Force Level drop-down filter, select Level 3- Serious Injury and Deadly Force-Fatality. You can see from the filtered charts that officers in these incidents tend to be older, with more experience, are predominately white males, and see how frequently officers are injured.
5. Click on the Incident Context tab and notice that Behavioral Health is a frequent context.
6. Click on the Behavioral Health slice of the Call Type bar chart, applying an additional filter to the dashboard, enabling you to explore the characteristics of officers involved in behavioral health calls where a serious injury or fatal use of force incidents occurred.
7. Click back the Demographics tab.

   We can now see that this type of incident typically involves older white officers and rarely involves an officer injury. A community leader on the police oversight board may use this information to explore specialized training or alternative responses to mental health related calls.

8. Follow steps 6-8 of the Explore characteristics of subjects of force section topic to learn about the spatial distribution of race and ethnicity and community composition.

The result of our selection indicates these incidents have occurred in only two neighborhoods, further indicating that focused training may be warranted.

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 on any bar in the charts to refine the results. For example, you may like to know more about the characteristics of use of force incidents in your neighborhood, Country Lakes, and compare it to DuPage North on the other side of the river.

Follow the steps below 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 on the Use Of Force page.
2. Scroll down the page to view the Gain a Deeper Understanding section. Click on Use of Force by Neighborhood.
3. In the Neighborhood drop-down filter, select Country Lakes.

   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 DuPage North.

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

5. Click on 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 where force most frequently occurs.
6. Follow steps 6-8 of the Explore characteristics of subjects of force section 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. Your business has recently been victimized. You believe the crime to be part of a larger problem, and you want to become more active in working with your department to solve this problem and prevent future crimes. To perform this role, you’ll need to learn how to get connected to police by finding your community officer, report your crime problem, provide feedback on your experience as a victim, and get information on upcoming police community events you can participate in.

Find your community officer

Follow the steps below to learn more about the men and women that work with your neighborhood to solve safety concerns.

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click on the Community Engagement page.
2. Scroll down the page to the Find Your Community Officer section.
3. In the My Community Officer app, enter your address or click a map location.

The app will show a name and picture of your community officer, contact information, duty hours, the community policing area the location belongs to, and information about when meetings are held for this area.

Report community crime problems

Follow the steps below to view existing crime problems reported by the public and to submit a new non-emergency problem you have observed in the community.

1. Step 1 browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click on the Community Engagement page.
2. Scroll down the page to the Engaging the Community section and under Report a Crime Problem click Submit a Problem.
3. Click Proceed as Guest.

   Note:

   If your organization uses ArcGIS Hub Premium, a user may elect to log-in with a community identity. This enables the organization to automatically associate community members with problems they submit for improved service.

4. Click Submit a Problem.
5. Complete the form, providing a name for the problem, describing the nature of the problem and where it is occurring, and optionally your contact information.
6. Click the map to start drawing a polygon that defines the extent of the problem area. Keep clicking to define the edges of the polygon, then double-click to complete.
7. Click Report It.
8. Now you can view your crime problem and others recently submitted by residents. Click on another crime problem.
9. Click the heart icon to like the report.
10. To add your comments, click the comment icon. When complete, click Submit Comment.

Manage community crime problems

Once a crime problem report has been submitted, Community Policing Officers (CPOs) work with community members to validate, prioritize, solve these concerns. The Community Crime Problem Manager enables CPOs to manage the crime problems through a collaborative, community-oriented problem-solving process based on the Problem-Oriented Policing SARA model (Scan, Analyze, Respond, Assess). In this section you will take the role of a CPO. Follow the steps below to learn how to manage citizen reported crime problems through a problem-solving process.

1. From your content, open the Community Crime Problem Manager.

   The overview tab displays a list of all crime problems with charts displaying their project approval status and problem-solving phase.

2. Click a bar in the chart to filter the crime problem list. You may also use the neighborhood filter to select crime problems occurring in a specific neighborhood.
3. Click a problem from the list to zoom to the location of the problem.
4. Click the problem on the map to activate a pop-up to learn more about the problem.

   Each tab in the Community Crime Problem Manager displays a step in the problem-solving process, with instructions on the actions to be taken and data to be edited for that step.

5. Click Create Report.

   This opens the Data tab of ArcGIS Survey123, where you can then click the print button to create a printable PDF of the crime problem record.

6. Review the list of crime problems and click the one you want to edit. The map will zoom to the problem, and the left-side ArcGIS Survey123 form will display the record you have selected.
7. Follow the instructions to update the form with the data required for the step. Click the Submit button at the bottom of the Survey123 form to submit your edits.
8. As your crime problem proceeds through the problem-solving steps in the real world, follow the instructions on each tab to proceed the problem through the process in the app.

Explore community crime problems

As CPOs and community members work together to solve crime problems, the public can exercise oversight on the status of active and completed projects using the Community Crime Problem Dashboard. In this section you will resume your role of a concerned business owner. Follow the steps below to explore previous crime problem-solving successes and what other active problem-solving projects are underway.

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click the Community Engagement page.
2. Scroll down the page to the Engaging the Community section and under Monitor Problem-Solving Projects click Monitor Projects to open the Community Crime Problem Dashboard.
3. Use the filters to set criteria, then click any chart or list to refine the results.
4. Click a project in the list to review a specific project.

   The map will zoom to the location of the problem.

5. Click the Details tab to view complete details for that project.

Submit feedback on a police interaction

Follow the steps below 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 out the Police Interaction Survey to provide your feedback.
4. Click Submit.

Learn about upcoming events

Follow the steps below to discover community policing activities you can participate in.

1. In a browser, open the Police Transparency site, and click the Community Engagement page.
2. Scroll down the page to view the Scheduled Events calendar. You can see upcoming events or click on a specific date to learn about events for that date.
3. Click on an event. You can indicate you plan to attend the event, get details and directions for the event, follow the Hub Initiative the event is a part of, and share the event on social media.

Note:

The Event Calendar is functionality available only to organizations with Hub Premium. Learn more

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 would like 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. For example, 13% of employees in the department are Black, 24% are Female, etc…

   Note:

   Under each demographic group, a text box indicates the percentage that group represents in the community overall. For example, 13% of employees are Black compared to Black residents accounting for 32% of the community population overall. This information enables you to quickly identify which demographic groups are over represented 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 vs civilian employees.

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

   The details tab enables 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 within 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.