County Law Enforcement Data:
Our experience with the Next Request process for obtaining essential data was most difficult with MCSO. We had to submit numerous requests, explain in words taken directly from the MCSO website, submit arrest codes of interest which are universally known to law endorsement. There were delays in responses resulting in nearly six months to receive all of the requested data.
Ukiah PD required no follow-up, Fort Bragg PD required some follow-up (data was first submitted to us as a pdf scanned sideways), and Willits PD never responded.
There are significant omissions and limitations of this county’s law enforcement data. Most notably there is a lack of consistent racial/ethnic data collection - at least that is publicly available or released with data requests. This is a glaring impediment for identifying any disparities that may exist in law enforcement responses and activities. The result of these limitations is a lack of transparency and is counter to noted best practices.
This is to implore/strongly urge the Board of Supervisors to insist on the following with respect to data collection and processing:
- Require an open data portal for public access to all law enforcement data. An example from Santa Rosa: Calls for Service Open Data Portal - Santa Rosa
- Require collection of and transparency with racial and ethnic data for all calls for service, bookings, and arrests. No one is “colorblind” to skin color. Without these data we are blinded to what role if any implicit or explicit biases play a role in law enforcement activities.
- Include descriptors of special populations (Youth, People with Disabilities, Non-English Speakers, Homeless) who are subject of the calls for service or arrests.
- Provide more detailed information beyond “general service provided” for response to calls for service
- Include time when call for service was resolved and how many responders were involved (allows for determining how personel time is utilized). This is necessary to estimate personnel hours used for categories of calls.
- Require officers to provide thorough, narrative descriptions of their vehicle and pedestrian stops to their supervisors on a daily basis, explaining the justification for each stop. Most law enforcement encounters occur as traffic incidents.
- In the MCSO’s current standard Lexipol policies (300.3.1 USE OF FORCE TO EFFECT AN ARREST) there is no explicit policy to de-escalate prior to use of force. This needs to be resolved in compliance with the Task Force on 21st Century Policing recommendations.
- Require Mendocino County law enforcement agencies to participate in the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) National Justice Database (NJD) and the Police Data Initiative. CPE has developed a checklist that specifies best practices for routine police data collection on crimes, calls for service, stops, and use of force (See pg Appendix B:: Best Practice Checklist for Law Enforcement Agency Data Collection (link is also accessible here). CPE works with participating departments to identify the requested data, and organize it to guarantee it meets NJD standards.
County Law Enforcement Data:
Our experience with the Next Request process for obtaining essential data was most difficult with MCSO. We had to submit numerous requests, explain in words taken directly from the MCSO website, submit arrest codes of interest which are universally known to law endorsement. There were delays in responses resulting in nearly six months to receive all of the requested data.
Ukiah PD required no follow-up, Fort Bragg PD required some follow-up (data was first submitted to us as a pdf scanned sideways), and Willits PD never responded.
There are significant omissions and limitations of this county’s law enforcement data. Most notably there is a lack of consistent racial/ethnic data collection - at least that is publicly available or released with data requests. This is a glaring impediment for identifying any disparities that may exist in law enforcement responses and activities. The result of these limitations is a lack of transparency and is counter to noted best practices.
This is to implore/strongly urge the Board of Supervisors to insist on the following with respect to data collection and processing:
- Require an open data portal for public access to all law enforcement data. An example from Santa Rosa: Calls for Service Open Data Portal - Santa Rosa
- Require collection of and transparency with racial and ethnic data for all calls for service, bookings, and arrests. No one is “colorblind” to skin color. Without these data we are blinded to what role if any implicit or explicit biases play a role in law enforcement activities.
- Include descriptors of special populations (Youth, People with Disabilities, Non-English Speakers, Homeless) who are subject of the calls for service or arrests.
- Provide more detailed information beyond “general service provided” for response to calls for service
- Include time when call for service was resolved and how many responders were involved (allows for determining how personel time is utilized). This is necessary to estimate personnel hours used for categories of calls.
- Require officers to provide thorough, narrative descriptions of their vehicle and pedestrian stops to their supervisors on a daily basis, explaining the justification for each stop. Most law enforcement encounters occur as traffic incidents.
- In the MCSO’s current standard Lexipol policies (300.3.1 USE OF FORCE TO EFFECT AN ARREST) there is no explicit policy to de-escalate prior to use of force. This needs to be resolved in compliance with the Task Force on 21st Century Policing recommendations.
- Require Mendocino County law enforcement agencies to participate in the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) National Justice Database (NJD) and the Police Data Initiative. CPE has developed a checklist that specifies best practices for routine police data collection on crimes, calls for service, stops, and use of force (See pg Appendix B:: Best Practice Checklist for Law Enforcement Agency Data Collection (link is also accessible here). CPE works with participating departments to identify the requested data, and organize it to guarantee it meets NJD standards.