RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) - The Rutland City Police Department has joined 20 other police forces from around the country in a White House initiative to improve local policing and build community trust.
The Police Data Initiative is part of President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st-Century Policing, announced in December.
Those participating in the initiative will collect and make public sets of data on their police-related operations, including use of force, officer-involved shootings, and pedestrian and vehicle stops.
Participants also will use the data to identify problems and improve accountability.
“The open-data initiative is another way in which the Rutland City Police Department can continue to be on the forefront of best policing practices in the country,” Acting Chief David Covell told the Rutland Herald (https://bit.ly/1F6qVfG).
“Certainly having a better informed community as to what is going on in their neighborhoods and at their police department creates a greater sense of trust and fosters better communication between the department and the community,” he added.
In April, Capt. Scott Tucker met at the White House with data scientists and chiefs from larger cities to discuss their methods. He said it was interesting to learn what other police departments, especially in big cities, are working on to improve their agencies.
He said that in particular, Rutland police will make crime incidents public, along with arrest reports and data on the use of force by type. The department is developing a new website and talks regularly with other participants in the program.
“We were fortunate to be part of the conversation,” Tucker said. “More small police departments look like us and that got us invited, along with all the work we are doing here with community-engagement building and with our crime analyst.”
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Information from: Rutland Herald, https://www.rutlandherald.com/
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