Assessing the Oversight of State Criminal Investigative Agencies on Law Enforcement Use of Force

• In Event: Examining Public Perception, Body-worn Cameras, and Data Processing in Law Enforcement Agencies through Large National Data Collections

Abstract

The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing called for law enforcement agencies to better track and record use of force incidents. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has been assessing how to capture these data through administrative records, and state criminal investigative agencies offer a unique data source. These agencies act as an external reviewer and can provide criminal outcomes on use of force incidents. This presentation focuses on the results of the 2016 Survey of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, a census of the 49 state criminal investigative agencies, in order to assess their coverage over use of force cases. An analysis of the jurisdictions served, types of force cases investigated over a three year period (2013-2015), handling of case disposition, and consistency in collecting incident details are discussed. The presentation will also highlight the utility of state criminal investigative agencies as a data source for national level estimates on excessive use of force.

Authors

• Shelley Hyland, Bureau of Justice Statistics

• Travis Taniguchi, RTI International

• Azucena Derecho, RTI International