Police Measurement Project Public Listening Sessions

A Summary Report

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Overview

We believe data, and the use of that data to underscore and understand a holistic view of police work and engagement, is an important part of the broader conversation that is happening around policing.

Since 2019, we’ve worked to create a pilot set of Police Measures, and in 2022 we turned our focus to shaping and implementing these metrics with local communities, including the institutions that serve them. In a major step towards this effort, we welcomed the public in our two pilot jurisdictions to discuss their experiences and questions around police in their cities.

This report describes the sessions and analysis, summarizes the findings from this early local engagement, and outlines how the themes emerging from these discussions will inform the metrics we pilot.

Key Findings

Three key themes arose, indicating that residents, in their respective communities, are most interested in:

A greater understanding of police work and departmental operations, including the processes of policing and gaining more access and knowledge about how their police department functions.
Improved responses to problems as they arise, including understanding how the police respond to calls for service and public safety concerns within the jurisdiction.
Increased community relations and proactive engagement, reflecting a desire to be a part of the public safety discussion as well as part of the solutions.

Why It Matters

A conversation about reimagining police work should begin with what is currently happening, and necessitates reliable data. By applying what we’ve learned, and through collaboration with innovative departments and their communities, we will be able to:

(1) create a set of standardized Police Measures, and

(2) Provide opportunities for the community to access the data through Commons, our community-driven data tool.