Find out more about Proposals for Change
A proposal for change is a community and data-driven process where the PAB makes formal recommendations to change policies and practices that impact the Rochester Police Department. This Proposal for Change makes formal recommendations about the collection and reporting of information about what the police do.
The data that RPD collects and reports should represent the needs of the community and should be available based on the public needs.
Summary
RPD performs averagely compared to other police agencies on a nationwide measure of data transparency.
PAB recommends better data reporting in twelve categories, including: complaints about police misconduct, instances of officers shooting firearms, use of force, arrests, calls for service, traffic and pedestrian stops, crime reports.
PAB recommends collecting and reporting on demographics of police and people impacted by policing to allow better analysis of inequitable policing.
Public Input
On September 26, 2022, the PAB published the draft of Police Data Transparency: A Proposal for Change. The public comment period closed on January 24, 2023.
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Research
To develop these recommendations, the PAB researched:
- Resources from the Rochester Police Department, including the open data portal;
- The FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program and Crime Data Explorer;
- What academics and experts say;
- And examples from law enforcement agencies in other places.
PAB calculated a Police Data Transparency score for Rochester following the methodology created by the Vera Institute of Justice.
I agree data transparency specific to incidents is necessary. I particulary want to see data on use of force, when guns are deployed and also when “less lethal” equipment is deployed, traffic and pedestrian stops, all data on any incident where a complaint of misconduct is made, regardless of whether or not the PAB decides to pursue or further investigate the complaint, overtime expenditures, and all training and policy data.
I would also like the PAB to add the request for direct access to RPD data to this Proposal. By Charter Law, the PAB is already supposed to have direct access. I thought it odd that it wasn’t in the Proposal for Data Transparency, as it is a key factor.
I would like to see how many incidents the PAB has investigated since their formation some time ago. And what they are doing with a $5 million investment by the City.
I fail to see how they have improved anything. In fact, they have been disruptive. Gave them a fair shake, but I think they failed.