PAB Sends Recommendations to Improve RPD Transparency
One of the ways police departments can build trust and confidence within the communities they serve is by making accurate, transparent records of crime data, use of force incidents and decision-making open to the public.
The Rochester Police Accountability Board (PAB) says they have analyzed current RPD data transparency practices and have come up with 19 recommendations to improve the process.
“The data transparency policy recommendations and analysis are basically a review of RPD’s public data. We reviewed RPD’s public data portal and compared it to other departments as well as the national scale,” noted Vanessa Cheeks, PAB Deputy Chief of Public Information. “We looked at how well they (RPD) are presenting this information, what additional information they could add and how they can improve accessibility.”
The recommendations specifically have to do with how the RPD collects and presents its public data on things like arrests and misconduct reports to people in the community.
Some of the recommendations include making police data more accessible and tracking misconduct reports on the RPD’s open data portal.
Cheeks says the PAB is optimistic that many of the recommendations will be received and implemented by RPD.
“Previous versions of the report were presented to RPD and they had a very positive response,” she said. “I believe they are already implementing some of the recommendations or at least considering doing so.”
The report and the recommended changes were forwarded to RPD Chief David Smith, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, and Rochester City Council last week.
The PAB is requesting a response within 30 days detailing if the department intends to implement any of the recommended changes or not.
The RPD data portal can be accessed at https://data-rpdny.opendata.arcgis.com/.
Read the full Data Transparency Policy Recommendations Report HERE:
