Police use of force continues to be a much debated, sometimes highly contested, issue for communities. Law enforcement officers face many complex and dynamic situations that may result in the use of force, and executives must strike the balance of providing transparent data while managing day-to-day operations and accountability. Regardless of agency size, at some point, every police and sheriff’s department will respond to a critical incident involving some level of force. Being prepared to respond appropriately will have a dramatic effect on subsequent public and media scrutiny.

There is no national or global standard pertaining to the collection of force data. Agencies unilaterally decide what to collect, how to report data, and how to utilize data collection to improve operations and close training gaps. Absent a broader standard; departments should strive to remain in an advantageous position by implementing robust supervisory oversight and sound policies and maintaining useful data collection as it relates to force encounters. Data collection should be focused on providing management with real-time information to integrate into the training environment.

The FBI launched the National Use-of-Force Data Collection in January 2019. The effort is designed to promote more informed conversations about the circumstances and situations surrounding force application in the United States. While some police executives have been skeptical in signing onto the program, several criminal justice agencies and associations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, have endorsed the endeavor.

The Arlington, Texas, Police Department has established a methodology for how it approaches, reports, and responds to use of force, as well as officer training. Its experience is offered herein to allow agencies to explore lessons learned to better equip officers with the appropriate mix of training through data collection, trends, and tactics.

The Beginning

In November 2017, the Arlington Police Department created a Force and Tactics Assessment Unit (FTAU). The unit was formed to help identify use-of-force trends within the department, by looking at aggregate data and analyzing national trends and case law surrounding force application.

The unit consists of a sergeant, two corporals, and a training development specialist. The vision of this new unit is to elevate emphasis on recruit and in-service officer training to ensure the department is meeting the highest standards possible while also maintaining officers in the field and giving them the best training and tools to achieve those goals. Using data and information readily available through the force reporting process has provided the unit an opportunity to create safety bulletins on tactics and make recommendations for policy changes to reduce employee stress, liability exposure, and organizational risks related to force.

The department’s training division meets three times each year with a training advisory board made up of community members and training center staff to discuss recommended in-service training components for officers and employees. According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE),

the purpose and function of an advisory board is to serve the training provider by providing guidance in the establishment of curriculum, training needs, frequency & location of courses, standards for admission to training programs, class size, attendance requirements, and retention. This includes policies and procedures, as well as confirmation of compliance with TCOLE rules and other regulations.¹

In addition to the state-required role of the training advisory board, the group also reviews departmental annual reports on use of force, pursuits, internal affairs, recruitment plans, and racial profiling, among other areas of focus.

The department has provided instruction to its officers on recognizing and responding to people experiencing a mental health crisis, a scenario that accounts for a high probability of being involved in a force encounter based on U.S.-wide statistics. Officers also received training in de-escalation tactics, and supervisory personnel received consent decree training to look at trends that typically cause greater risks to the agency based upon force encounters with the public. All of these efforts are focused on increasing officer wellness and safety.

FTAU Role and Responsibilities

The role of the FTAU is multifaceted, but the primary responsibility is reviewing every detail of each force encounter experienced by an Arlington Police Department officer. The team reviews a use-of-force encounter after it has progressed through a multistage supervisory review. The unit reviews the data from a force incident and then compares that to current training standards and tactics and reconciles those incidents with U.S. trends and policy implications. Examples of the information reviewed include the appropriateness of the force application with regard to the suspect’s behavior, alignment with training tactics, de-escalation options, and effectiveness of the force applied. Each force incident is cataloged so that data can be aggregated for organizational analysis at the broader level. Beginning in mid-2017, the FTAU team began reporting use-of-force incidents that result in death or serious injury to a person, as well as incidents when a police officer discharges a firearm at or in the direction of a person, to the FBI National Use-of-Force Data Collection. Due to this tracking and analysis, the unit has already been able to identify and make strategic changes with favorable results.

In 2018, the FTAU noticed a trend related to officers’ overreliance on conducted electrical weapons (CEWs). After the trend was identified, the unit began issuing several training bulletins dealing with CEW limitations and safety considerations and began emphasizing this point in recruit and incumbent officer training. Continued research on the issue revealed an ever-growing body of case law, along with policy recommendations by organizations such as the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the IACP, as well as from companies that produce and sell these devices. Overwhelmingly, the information indicated that a CEW should be used primarily in situations where the suspect is providing assaultive resistance to officers. The end result was a restructuring of CEWs on the organization’s use-of-force continuum in addition to newly defined resistance levels.

Having a data collection unit staffed with experienced officers afforded the organization the opportunity to look beyond individual force encounters and combine their reviews with analyses of training and tactics. These data helped lead the unit to develop the curriculum being taught in the 2019 in-service classes to help officers when they encounter certain field situations with noncompliant and combative subjects.

Public Force Reports

Since the unit’s inception less than 18 months ago, FTAU has helped with the development of a new training curriculum for police officers, detention officers, and police academy recruits. The purpose of this training curriculum is to ensure the department is on the cutting edge of technology while keeping up with trends across the United States.

The department publishes an external annual report of force incidents; the unit also produces an internal quarterly report so that relevant and important decisions can be made related to what officers are encountering in the field.

According to these reports, in 2018, the department initiated 312,460 contacts that resulted in 1,006 documented reports of force. This equates to force being used in less than half of 1 percent (0.3 percent) of all police contacts with members of the public. Without these data collection efforts, the department would not be able to identify important safeguards to assist officers and prepare them for the general experience of day-to-day contacts.

Use-of-Force Review Process

There is a multistage review process for force reports that is composed of four levels. The first three levels of review include sergeants, lieutenants, and deputy chiefs. Once a force report is generated, those levels will conduct thorough reviews to ensure adherence to policies, laws, and training standards. The final level of review involves the FTAU, which will look at the aggregate applications of force and reconcile reviews with policy; training; and U.S. standards, trends, and case law. If there are inconsistent decisions between the two separate review processes, the case is forwarded to internal affairs for analysis. All reviews of police use of force involve an examination of the pre-event factors, the force incident, and post-event aftercare to ensure consistency with training and expectations.

Critical Incident Responses

The Arlington Police Department employs a thorough response when responding to any critical incident involving force. The department released a use-of-force investigations policy to assist staff with investigative protocols that reinforce the tenets of the 21st Century Policing report.² One of the critical elements of the policy includes a public safety information statement that requires officers involved in a critical incident to provide necessary and limited information to ensure both the safety of the public and effective police response. The purpose of public safety information is not to determine justification for using force nor to determine the factual accuracy as officer-involved incidents typically involve trauma for all parties involved. This statement is necessary to ensure the immediate safety of the public and to ensure an effective police response is established.

Each stage of the on-scene investigation is codified into policy establishing the parameters and responsibilities of investigative units, public affairs officials, and administrative investigators. Once the scene is stabilized, and facts are vetted and known, staff assigned to provide media information coordinate the release of public information surrounding the force application and incident.

The department publishes public safety information according to best practices in the field of public information. This includes reviewing relevant body-worn digital media evidence and video from in-car cameras before formulating the public information statements. Social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, are updated to provide transparent, real-time status updates deemed necessary to reduce the impact and likelihood of misinformation and rumors that can circulate following a critical incident.

The Future of Reporting

Reporting, compiling, and collecting data from force reports have been laborious tasks for several years. Arlington is not immune to the challenges that can occur when human entry systems and reviews are involved in the reporting processes. The department strives to implement the most accurate and efficient reporting mechanisms to identify trends and make operational decisions that permit the agency to better serve the public and protect officers.

The department is transitioning from a paper reporting format to an electronic entry process that will digitize force reports and give commanders real-time access to force reports. The previous method of generating a written paper force report and compiling data to develop, analyze, and conduct reviews required significant time and resources. The new method is envisioned to streamline processes related to force reporting and analysis.

The department has acquired a system to standardize reporting that has built-in modules that can be customized to departments’ needs. Commanders, who in the past would have to wait for the paper force report to go through the chain of command, will now have access to those electronic reports through a web portal. This system will also be able to track instances where reviewing supervisors have returned the reports for corrections or to address minor policy violations or minor tactical errors. This electronic system will also allow police administrators to understand in real time the level and frequency of force being used in the field at any given moment.

In addition to individualized reporting processes, the department publishes a comprehensive annual use-of-force report for the public. The report, compiled by training center staff, is published on the department’s website and social media platforms. This enhances the transparency of reporting mechanisms, and members of the public can be referred to the annual report when topics arise. This is in addition to other forums where force might come up, including the department’s annual report that encompasses the whole department’s storyboard and other highlights throughout the year that can be shared through corporate communication channels.

Conclusion

Executives know the importance of and rely on data-driven approaches in law enforcement. Analyzing and understanding the data can put an organization in a position to monitor and make changes as necessary to better serve the public and keep employees safe.

Departments should strive to collect the data sets that are important to their communities and provide value to the overall profession. The FBI National Use-of-Force Data Collection is a great starting place for critical incident reporting. Agencies that report on force through either annual reporting systems or other mechanisms can use the data and transparency of reporting to enhance public trust when the topic of force comes up.

Navigating a critical incident involving force has a myriad of factors one must consider. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that executives can use as a road map. With that said, it is important to remain consistent in reporting methods and talk about the organization’s storyboard when it comes to force training, public reporting, and an organization’s unique experience.

The Arlington Police Department has blended technology, trends, and data to help train officers and provide them with the tools they need for officer safety. These tools will also help develop more community trust and further the department’s goal of community policing, to help continue to make Arlington a great place to live. Participation in the FBI National Use-of-Force Reporting system is a key component to the Arlington Police Department’s overall strategy. 🛡

Notes:

¹ Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, Training Advisory Board Course, January 2016.

² Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing (Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 2015

Please cite as

Will D. Johnson, “The Pursuit of Reliable and Accurate Data: One City’s Experience with Use-of-Force Reporting,” Police Chief 86, no. 6 (June 2019): 42–45.