- To understand police violence and respond in evidence-based manners, policymakers and researchers need accurate and timely data on these incidents.
- This data is an important tool for public accountability; however, law enforcement related deaths are reported only 45% of the time.*
- The strongest policies require law enforcement to immediately report any use of force.
- Both the Police Executive Research Forum and the Major Cities Chiefs Association recommend that law enforcement report their data to the FBI’s National Use-of-Force Data collection.**
- While Minnesota currently mandates that local law enforcement report all uses of force that result in fatalities, serious bodily injuries, or where a firearm was discharged, other uses of force aren’t included.***
- This policy should include required reporting for choke-holds, kicking or striking a person, and more.
Sources
*Gun Violence and the Police. (2022, November 30). Everytown Research & Policy. https://everytownresearch.org/report/gun-violence-and-the-police/
Feldman, J. M., Gruskin, S., Coull, B. A., & Krieger, N. (2017). Quantifying under-reporting of law-enforcement-related deaths in United States vital statistics and news-media-based data sources: A capture–recapture analysis. PLOS Medicine, 14(10), e1002399. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002399
**Multi-Agency Letter in Support of the National Use-of-Force Data Collection (2018). Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/ucr/use-of-force-joint-seal-letter-may-2018.pdf/view
***Minnesota Bureau of Public Apprehension. (2022, September 26). National Use-Of-Force Reporting Fact Sheet. https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca/bca-divisions/mnjis/Documents/Use-of-Force-Reporting-Fact-Sheet.pdf
