In this year of our American discontent, the feds actually had a good idea, even if it didn't make the front pages. Until now.
The FBI developed a program in 2019, after so many police-involved shootings, to at least track the number of times local police used force. It was a minor step in this ongoing national discussion America is having about policing and race. The FBI wanted to collect use-of-force data academically, including the whens, wheres, whys, and hows.
But according to Neal Earley's front-page story in the Democrat-Gazette this weekend, few departments are turning in the information. The best explanation came from Lt. Casey Clark of the Little Rock Police Department: "The only rationale I can say is, it is not required. If they required it, we'd do it, but it's not like we're trying to hide anything." To the department's credit, the Little Rock police has posted use-of-force data on social media already.
This reminds us of the Uniform Crime Report that the FBI implemented long ago. The only problem: It wasn't uniform.
First, it hasn't always been required by the feds. And on top of that, some jurisdictions would describe a crime as an assault, and another department would call it an attempted murder, and yet another department could call the same crime a battery. Not to mention all the state laws that give different names to similar crimes. (Was it a burglary, or unauthorized entry?)
We are reminded of a person back in the 1990s who juxtaposed the "Uniform" Crime Report with college towns across the United States to find the "most violent" places where your kid could go to college. This person found out that little Hammond, La., was the place where your college kid might be in the most in danger. The real story was that the Hammond, La., police department was really vigilant about filling out the crime report.
Our story said that nationally only about 27 percent of law enforcement agencies even participate in the new FBI program. In Arkansas, the number is lower: "Of the 237 law enforcement agencies in Arkansas, only eight sent data to the FBI in 2020--the Arkansas State Police, the sheriff's offices in Benton and Pulaski counties; and the police departments in Fort Smith, Quitman, Rogers, Springdale and the University of Central Arkansas."
If a person was going to make a list of the most dangerous places from this information, he'd find that Quitman, Rogers and Springdale were "Top 10" places in Arkansas for crime. And that UCA was No. 1 among colleges. (Also, the only one among colleges to report.) Lies, damned lies, and statistics.
We understand the motivation behind use-of-force data collection. But it won't be much use to anybody until a significant majority of police departments, in all states, decide to participate. These days the feds seem inclined to spend money on pert-near anything. This issue would seem important enough to fund.