In a November 20th press release, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the pending release of the National Use-of-Force Data Collection. This data collection will allow for the aggregate analysis of incidents in which force was used by law enforcement officers. It is not intended to be a tool for single-incident analysis.

The purpose of this collection is to establish standards of reporting for use-of-force incidents and provide a national clearinghouse for this data. Currently, use-of-force information is collected only by individual agencies, under varying reporting standards, and is generally inaccessible for the purpose of aggregating data to understand national trends and statistics. This collection is intended to improve data and transparency, and hopefully foster greater public confidence in law enforcement.

Data to be collected include any incident in which an officer used force that resulted in “death or serious bodily injury of a person” or an incident in which an officer discharged a firearm “at or in the direction of a person.” Agencies will report voluntarily to the data collection.

Law enforcement agencies will begin data submission as of January 1, 2019 via the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal (LEEP), and online tool that will support data collection and sharing between agencies. The FBI will report statistics periodically to the public.

More resources and reports on police use of force in the U.S. can be found at the Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL).

Some links require HSDL login, click here to view the Data Collection webpage directly, and the press release.

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