Marlene Feist, 509.625.6505
Tuesday, September 3, 2019 at 12:09 p.m.
The Spokane Office of Police Ombudsman today is launching a new on-line dashboard that provides a comprehensive look at Spokane Police Department Use of Force incidents from 2013 through 2018. The dashboard is available on the Ombudsman’s pages on the City’s web site.
“The Spokane Police Department has been posting Use of Force reports online for the community to view for years. However, it can be cumbersome to comb through pages and pages of reports to find specific data. The Police Force Analysis System (PFAS) allows the public to have meaningful insight on force used against non-compliant subjects at a glance,” says Bart Logue, Police Ombudsman. “The system provides officers feedback on the tactics they employ and allows police administrators a more robust analysis of data to better understand what line level officers are experiencing.”
“The goal of this is to help improve policing practices and minimize risk,” Logue says. “The transparency of data and meaningful analysis available can help the community examine issues like racial disparity or other issues of interest related to uses of force. At the Office of the Police Ombudsman, we are always looking for trends in policing as well as remaining current on best practices. PFAS’ evidence-based data will inform future recommendations from our office on policy or training.”
“The Spokane Police Department is pleased to participate in this project with the Office of Police Ombudsman,” says Police Chief Craig Meidl. “We started on a journey to improve public transparency and understanding of use of force incidents in 2012 with the creation of the citizen Use of Force Commission. Since that time, we have refined our policies, increased reporting, and completed a variety of recommendations by the Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and more. This site provides yet another layer of transparency while helping to illustrate the many factors and variables involved in uses of force.”
The use of force dashboard was created out of a comprehensive analysis of use of force incidents done by Police Strategies LLC under a contract with the Ombudsman office. The dashboard allows citizens to review incidents by a number of criteria, including location, time of day, original reason for the police call, characteristics of the contacted person, and more.
The dashboard data will be updated annually to provide information on trends over time.
The Office of Police Ombudsman was created in 2008 to provide independent civilian oversight of the Spokane Police Department. The office provides review of police actions, policy recommendations, and community outreach.
