BERKELEY, Calif. — A searchable database containing more than 1.5 million pages of police misconduct and use-of-force records from nearly 700 California law enforcement agencies is now available to the public, Cal Matters reported.
The Police Records Access Project, led by researchers at UC Berkeley and Stanford University, is being jointly published by CalMatters, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and KQED.
The collection includes information from 12,000 internal affairs investigations, with documents sourced from police departments, district attorney offices and other public agencies, according to the report. The records have been redacted in accordance with California public records laws and do not include photos, audio or video.
The project was enabled by a series of state transparency laws, including Senate Bill 1421, passed in 2018, and Senate Bill 16, enacted in 2021. Until now, the records were only accessible through individual public records requests submitted to each agency.
Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project and a professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, said the database will be useful for defense attorneys, prosecutors, academics and police departments seeking to vet prospective hires.
The records are searchable by agency, officer name and type of misconduct. The project team used emerging technologies, including generative AI, to collect and verify records.
How do you think easier public access to misconduct and use of force files will impact policing in California?
Police1 readers respond
- I think it will further restrict hiring and retention of police officers. Also, it may lead to additional lawsuits that would not have occurred before. When opportunist lawyers and clients smell blood in the water, they will file frivolous lawsuits against police officers just to see if they can get paid out.
