PDI Blog

The Police Foundation launched the Hate Crimes Open Data Challenge with a goal of 50 or more PDI agencies participating.   It has been just over two months since the initial call for commitments went out and 31 agencies throughout the country have already agreed to release open hate crime data. Congratulations to these agencies…

Open police data can encourage joint problem solving, enhanced understanding, and accountability between communities and the law enforcement agencies that serve them. That’s the mission of the Police Foundation‘s Police Data Initiative (PDI) and we’re excited to join the Sunlight Foundation in 2018 to empower communities across the nation and share the importance of releasing open police use…

At the end of 2017, David Bernstein published an article in The Atlantic on shooting data, or rather the lack thereof. Non-fatal shooting data is often difficult to come by because it is generally lumped-in with other types of assault in national data collections. Bernstein notes:   “Fatal gun violence is often categorized in ways…

As the movement for law enforcement agencies to release open data grows, one category is growing with it: open data on hate and bias crimes. Hate crimes are criminal offenses that are motivated to some extent by the offender’s bias. Unlike traditional criminal offenses that victimize individuals, hate crimes victimize entire groups and are highly…

The recently concluded 2017 hurricane season was one of the most devastating seasons in US history. As such, in early November the Police Data Initiative hosted a webinar entitled “Open Data for Disaster Recovery: Extreme Times Call for Extreme Data.” Featuring PDI co-founder Denice Ross, currently a Public Interest Tech Fellow at the New America…

Open police data is often at its best when it is big, messy, and gives an unfiltered view into the complexities of policing, which is why Calls for Service data can be so wonderful.   Calls for Service data reflect incidents captured in an agency’s Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.  Each row represents one incident that…

  The number of Americans killed in traffic fatalities has fallen over the last decade, but the number of bicycle/pedestrian fatalities is up 12 percent over that time according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Meanwhile, the number of bicyclists commuting to work has risen by 64 percent since 2000.   As a result,…

Available open datasets from law enforcement agencies in the Police Data Initiative (PDI) are becoming increasingly diverse and so too are the partners that help connect police data to communities. Two PDI agencies are leveraging unique partnerships with their local library systems to host police open data and encourage the public’s use of the data.…

Police Foundation (@PoliceFound) Est. read time:  The Police Data Initiative is a national network designed to enhance understanding of crime and public safety and accountability between law enforcement and the community through open data. To date, over 130 law enforcement agencies nationwide, large and small, have joined this community of practice. In doing so, they…

There’s no IT Department, no CIO and no dedicated funding for IT improvements. Like other smaller law enforcement agencies, the Northampton Police Department outsources its technology support and would seem to be an unlikely place for innovation around police open data. Chief Jody Kasper used her technological constraints to her advantage, starting with people first,…