Empowering Community Access to Data on Police Use of Force

Recent protests focused on police killings of unarmed Black youth in the US have drawn renewed attention to inequities in the effects of law enforcement activities on marginalized communities, as well as an astonishing lack of data on the public health impacts of police use of force. While crime-related data is relatively accessible in most US cities, information regarding police use of force in interactions with civilians remains inaccessible. This information drought reduces the ability of communities to make informed public health decisions. This discussion will trace the progress of an ongoing project to collect data on police use of force in Oakland, California, highlighting obstacles encountered along the way and practical approaches to resolving them. Drawing on experiences with the project thus far, policing literature, and qualitative descriptions of police encounters from young Black participants in an ongoing tobacco study, we will also offer preliminary insights regarding (a) types of data needed for comprehensive analysis of the public health impacts of police activities on diverse communities; (b) negotiating with law enforcement and other government agencies for the release of existing data, as well as for the systematic collection of relevant data where it does not exist; and (c) guidelines for empowering community access to data regarding the potential health risks of police encounters.