Case Study: How Rochester Is Building Trust Between Communities and Law Enforcement Through Data

Situation

In Rochester, New York, community leaders and the Rochester Police Department (RPD) recognized an opportunity to strengthen relationships through greater transparency and shared understanding.

For Diane Trentini, a technology and engineering leader with a lifelong commitment to community, the opportunity was especially compelling. Diane joined a Community Advisory Board (CAB) working alongside RPD and Measures for Justice to develop Commons, a public data platform designed to help Rochester residents better understand how their police department operates.

For Diane, transparency is more than a technology initiative. It is a responsibility to the community.

“As a taxpayer, I support our public servants – I want to know how well they’re doing this really hard work, and also if we’re taking good care of them.”

The goal was to create a resource that could help residents, community leaders, and law enforcement look at the same information and use it as a starting point for meaningful conversations.

Problem

Community members often have important questions about how policing works, but getting clear, accessible answers can be difficult.

Questions such as:

  • How quickly do officers respond to calls for help?
  • How many incidents involve use of force?
  • How are police resources being used?
  • How much overtime are officers working?
  • What trends are emerging across the community?

Without accessible data, conversations about policing can be shaped by individual experiences, assumptions, or incomplete information.

At the same time, police departments need ways to understand community concerns and communicate more effectively about the work they do.

The challenge was to create greater transparency while recognizing that the data would not always be perfect and that difficult conversations would be part of the process.

Solution

Measures for Justice worked with RPD and a Community Advisory Board of Rochester leaders to develop Commons, a public-facing data platform that makes information about police operations easier to access and understand.

The CAB played an important role in shaping the platform, bringing community perspectives and questions into the development process.

Commons provides the public with information about how RPD handles calls for service and other aspects of police operations. Rather than requiring residents to navigate complex datasets on their own, the platform presents information in a way designed to support exploration, understanding, and conversation.

Just as importantly, the development process created a space for community leaders and police representatives to work together.

The conversations were not always easy. The group tackled difficult subjects including use of force, community safety, and systemic challenges.

But the process created something beyond a data platform: a shared understanding of the questions different stakeholders were asking and a commitment to work toward common goals.

As Diane observed:

“The most exciting part of the experience was the authentic intention of everyone around the table to serve each other well and to serve the community well.”

Greater Access to Information

Residents and community leaders now have a public resource for exploring data about RPD operations and asking informed questions about policing in their community.

More Informed Conversations

Data provides a common starting point for discussions that might otherwise be driven by individual experiences or assumptions. Community members and law enforcement can look at the same information and work toward a shared understanding.

Stronger Community-Law Enforcement Collaboration

The Community Advisory Board created an opportunity for people with different perspectives to work together throughout the development process, including on challenging topics.

A Foundation for Continuous Improvement

The project recognizes that data does not have to be perfect to be useful. Commons provides a starting point for identifying questions, understanding trends, and improving the quality and usefulness of information over time.

Impact

For Rochester, Commons represents more than a public dashboard. It is a foundation for building stronger relationships between communities and law enforcement.

Diane sees data as a bridge; a way to move conversations from assumptions toward understanding and from isolated experiences toward shared goals.

Her vision extends beyond the platform itself: neighborhoods where residents and police know one another, understand one another, and can use information to identify community needs and develop better solutions together.

“When you work in the community toward common goals, the probability of success goes up so much higher. It’s about creating lasting connections and fostering understanding, one data point at a time.”

Rochester’s experience demonstrates that data transparency is most powerful when it is paired with authentic collaboration. The technology creates access to information, but the relationships built around that information are what create the potential for lasting change.