LOS ANGELES — The California Department of Justice on Wednesday unveiled a state-run website to provide data on law enforcement agencies’ interactions with the public.
The database is the culmination of months of work aimed at improving transparency and government accountability after debate across the country on police practices in the past year.
“All of these incidents have encouraged a national dialogue about what is the relationship between law enforcement and communities we have served,” state Attorney General Kamala Harris said at a news conference in Los Angeles.
“Part of this conversation should take place looking at the data,” she said. “What are the numbers? What are the facts that we know that we can actually quantify that can influence public policy. … How can we improve these numbers and improve the situation.”
The initial OpenJustice dashboard includes three data sets: Law enforcement officers killed or assaulted in the line of duty; deaths in custody, including arrest-related deaths; and arrests and bookings. State officials say the dashboard likely will be expanded to include additional data sets.
California appears to be the first state to try to make such data easily accessible to the public, said Jim Bueermann, who leads the nonprofit Police Foundation, which aims to improve police practices and urges departments to standardize data reporting.
The website includes a brief analysis of the numbers, completed through a partnership between the state and professors at the University of California, Berkeley.
The office also has reached out to Stanford University; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Irvine; and the University of Southern California to have their criminal justice and law professors and data scientists analyze the information and provide further details that could help improve law enforcement practices.