White House Police Data Initiative Highlights New Commitments

In 2014, President Barack Obama launched the Task Force on 21st Century Policing to identify the best means to provide an effective collaboration between law enforcement and local communities that reduces crime and increases trust. In response to several of the Task Force recommendations that speak to the importance of technology and transparency, in May 2015 the White House launched the Police Data Initiative (PDI), a community of practice that includes leading law enforcement agencies, technologists, and researchers committed to improving the relationship between citizens and police through uses of data that increase transparency, build community trust, and strengthen accountability. April 21, the Administration is announcing that 53 jurisdictions, covering more than 41 million people, have now committed to the Police Data Initiative, with over 90 data sets released to date. These commitments represent concrete steps toward building trust and speak to a larger shift in the culture of policing that is at the core of the Task Force’s recommendations.

The White House is hosting an event titled, “The Police Data Initiative Year of Progress: Building on the President’s Call to Action to Leverage Open Data to Increase Trust between Police and Citizens.” At the event, local law enforcement leaders, cities, and stakeholders will share lessons learned about data and transparency and hone concrete ideas for continuing their groundbreaking work. This convening highlights the leadership and local innovation PDI jurisdictions have demonstrated over the past year in using open data to build community trust.