Continuing what has been a consistent and comprehensive roll-out of police data to the public, today, the NOPD published officer use of force data on the department’s website for the first time ever. This dataset, which is updated daily, includes use of force incidents reported in 2016 by the NOPD in accordance with departmental policy. This release, which makes the NOPD one of the only departments in the nation to publish this type of data, allows the community to monitor and hold the department accountable for how it handles uses of force investigations.

Click here to review the use of force data

“Transparency and accountability are at the center of building trust between police and the community,” said NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison. “Releasing this data is another step forward to building greater trust with our residents by being completely transparent with how we report, investigate and track all uses of force by our officers. The NOPD is quickly becoming one of the most modernized police departments in the country and I am committed to doing everything we can to achieve that goal.”

This month, the NOPD announced it was replacing the current COMSTAT process with a new, interactive open data website called MAX which will launch in the fall. MAX will reinvent the dated COMSTAT model by focusing not only on crime, but on comprehensive management of NOPD resources, including personnel management, deployment, misconduct, uses of force, vehicle risk management, and Consent Decree compliance. MAX will also provide a platform for measuring the effectiveness of departmental strategies, such as reducing response times.

Earlier this summer, the NOPD released new police datasets, including updated calls for service data, stop and search data and body worn camera metadata. The effort to make more police data available to the public is a combination of an on-going participation with the White House Police Data Initiative and the continued implementation of the federal Consent Decree.

Improved supervision, better policies and more accountability leads to better documenting of uses of force

In December 2015, the NOPD implemented new and comprehensive use of force policies that include specific requirements and guidelines for officers and supervisors on reporting a use of force incident. The greater emphasis and training on use of force reporting has resulted in substantial increases in the NOPD’s force statistics.

Click here to review the NOPD’s policy manual