Searchable databases on cases of use of force and misconduct by California police are open to the public
A searchable database of the use of force and misconduct by California law enforcement officers, namely the use and misconduct of California law enforcement officers (about 1.5 million pages of law enforcement agencies).
A database built by UC Berkeley and Stanford University, published by The Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, KQED and Calmatters.
It will greatly expand public access to internal affairs records that show how law enforcement agencies across the state deal with allegations of misconduct and the use of police forces that result in death or serious injury. The database currently includes records of nearly 12,000 cases.
The database is a multidisciplinary multidisciplinary work team composed of the Berkeley Institute of Data Science (BIDS), the UC Berkeley News Reporter’s Investigative Reporting Program (IRP), and Stanford University’s Big News. Other major contributors include the American Citizen Band Foundation of Southern California, California Innocent League. Criminal Defense Attorney, UC Irving’s Press Freedom Program and the Center for Criminal Law and Justice at the UC Berkeley School of Law.
Police Record Access Project
Search for California public records about law enforcement violence and misconduct.
The team collected, organized and reviewed millions of public records, using emerging technologies such as generating AI to build databases. California provides financial support, with additional funding from the Sony Foundation and ROC Nation.
Each file in this database is published by law enforcement agencies and complies with California’s public records laws.
The database work began in 2018 when about 40 newsroom journalists formed the California Reporting Project and began sharing documents through record requests. In total, reporters sent more than 3,500 public record requests to police departments across the state, the district attorney’s office and coroners.
