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National Assessment of
Statewide Use-of-Force Dashboards
An inventory of statewide use-of-force reporting systems. This study examines 0 research-informed indicators to document what information is publicly available and where gaps remain.
Methods & References →States
Benchmarked
Standard-Setting Portals
Leading High AlignmentFoundational Portals
Initial ImplementationIndicator Presence Across States
Commonly Available ↔ Not Yet ProvidedAlignment Levels
- High Alignment (60%+) 0
- Advancing (30-59%) 0
- Foundational (<30%) 0
Audit Detail
Reporting Standards
Standardized metrics used for national benchmarking
National Baseline Data Alignment
Methods
A content analysis was conducted between January 2026 and April 2026 to study statewide police use-of-force dashboards. Searches were guided by an alphabetical list of all 50 states in the United States, with subsequent Google searches to determine whether a use-of-force dashboard existed. Search criteria included the following statement(s): “does (State) have a statewide police use of force database,” “(State) police use of force database,” and “(State) police use of force dashboard.”
Once located, each webpage was manually searched. To be considered a dashboard, it had to include statewide use-of-force data collection, whether through a downloadable Excel file, an online Excel/Google Sheets file, or a website. Once this criterion was met, the information was saved to an Excel sheet, and the search continued for the remaining states. This resulted in 13 states with use-of-force dashboards, 7 of which also had related use-of-force reports.
Additionally, specific features examined included language accessibility on the initial website, use of force dashboards, and any related reports. A search was conducted on each website initially for any language accessibility options mentioned at the top or bottom of the page, or a translation option/button, such as a clickable drop-down flag. If fewer than 20 languages were available, these were manually written down and saved. For websites that had more than 20 languages available, a comparison was made from Google Translate’s main list of languages, also available at (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Translate). Websites that explicitly mentioned a different translation service, such as Washington State, were searched separately to obtain a list of available languages through that service (https://gtranslate.io/#features). All 13 dashboards had English as the only available language; 7 of the 13 websites were English-only; and all 9 reports were in English only.
Measurement
To ensure accurate and reliable comparisons between dashboards, a description guide was created for all variables (see Table 1). This was to ensure consistency and clarity on what was being searched and examined while increasing reliability among researchers. Websites and their dashboards were subsequently evaluated for the presence or absence of these categories. For instance, use of force related information including type of force, subject resistance types, and ambush incidences were searched (Brown & Sutton, 2023; Engel et al., 2020; Police Executive Research Forum, 2016; White et al., 2023), language accessibility (West, 2004; West, 2007), user-friendly and organizational website features (Alpert, 2015; Armstrong, 2011; West, 2004), and agency-specific information such as compliance, training, and budgets (Alpert, 2015; Brown & Sutton, 2023; Klinger et al., 2016; Obasogie & Newman, 2017; Recommendations President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015). For a full breakdown of the features examined, see Table 1.
Table 1. Description Guide for Dashboard Comparison Criteria.
| Criteria Name | Description | Related Literature |
|---|---|---|
| How often is the dashboard updated? | Does the dashboard/website specify how often it is updated, or is it otherwise apparent that it is updated regularly, such as by including yearly reports alongside dashboard updates? | President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015; Open Data Charter, 2015 |
| Is use of force legal standards/statutes explained? | On the webpage, dashboard, or subsequent materials related to the dashboard (such as how-to guides or tutorials), does it include the legal standard and/or statute for use of force, such as including the definition for force that results in serious bodily injury or great bodily harm? | Brown & Sutton, 2023 |
| Is the dashboard interactive? | Is any part of the dashboard interactive, such that it can be sorted, an option to include/exclude data for examination, or otherwise manipulate content to examine? | Helminski et al., 2024; Standford Center for Racial Justice, 2026 |
| Does the dashboard have visualizations (beyond a table or spreadsheet)? | Is there a visualization, such as a graph, chart, geographic map, or similar option, to display the data available? | West, 2004 |
| Is there an option to download the data? | Does the website or dashboard offer an option to download the dashboard data in PDF, Excel, CSV, or a similar format? This can be used for both incident-level data and for downloading the available graphs/visualizations. There may also be a special note regarding a downloadable option available only through public records requests. | Open Data Charter, 2015 |
| Is there a place for the general public to submit questions and/or provide feedback? | Does the website, dashboard, or any related materials (such as how-to guides or tutorials) include a dedicated area or option to submit a question, comment, or concern about the dashboard or the available use-of-force data? | West, 2004; West, 2007 |
| Is agency compliance examined? | Does the dashboard include information on agency compliance with state or federal use-of-force regulations, such as reporting status, failure to report, partial compliance, or a similar metric? Not just whether an agency is reporting information, it must also mention compliance. | Alpert, 2015 |
| Is agency-specific use of force information available? | Is there any use of force information that is agency-specific, rather than just a broad overview of all agencies/all cases? This can be a list of all agencies and use-of-force information, a search option for specific agencies, or results listing the agency associated with an incident. | Alpert, 2015; Klinger et al., 2016 |
| Does the dashboard have information organized into sections, tabs, or otherwise separated? | Is information broken down in some way and grouped under different categories/tabs/headings for display? Some form of separation of data being examined. For instance, grouping by officer information, subject information, injury information, or similar, rather than having everything together on one page | Armstrong, 2011; West, 2004 |
| Are officer demographics provided? | Is information provided regarding officer race and sex (or gender)? | Alpert, 2015; Klinger et al., 2016 |
| Are subject demographics provided? | Is information provided regarding subject race and sex (or gender)? | Alpert, 2015; Klinger et al., 2016 |
| Is the type of force examined? | Is the type of force used by police examined, such as deadly force, less lethal, weapon force, canine, firearm discharge, neck force, or any other force? | Brown & Sutton, 2023 |
| Are administrative outcomes reviewed in the dashboard? | Is there an administrative outcome section that examines what happened once force occurred, such as if an incident is under review, review duration, and/or if a review is completed? | Chanin & Espinosa, 2016; National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, 2021; Dobson, Dittmann, & Yeager, 2025 |
| Are related news/media reports available? | Are there news or media reports relating to use of force incidents, the use of force dashboard, officer use of force incidents, or similar? | Alpert, 2015 |
| Is there a dedicated glossary/data dictionary? | On the website, dashboard, or subsequent materials related to the dashboard (such as how-to guides or tutorials), is there a dedicated area called “definition,” “data dictionary,” “glossary,” or similar that explains definitions used and data collected throughout the use of the force dashboard? This goes beyond a definition of use of force to also include data elements in the visualizations/dashboard itself – such as definition of location type, incident type, incident detail, resistance – all aspects of the dashboard. This does not include searching state/federal use of force policies or guidelines – it must be on the website or dashboard. This also does not include definitions under general descriptions of parts of the website – must be a separate, dedicated area that specifies it is a glossary/dictionary/similar. Lastly, it has to go beyond element names/values to also include the definitions themselves. | Open Data Charter, 2015; Pepe & Cole, 2025 |
| Are financial costs and legal settlements examined? | Does the dashboard include an area on financial costs and legal settlements for use-of-force incidents, agencies, or outcomes? | Schwartz, 2014 |
| Is the received force location on the subject examined? | Is there a location mentioned for where force was used on the subject, such as their head, arms, torso, etc.? | Bozeman et al., 2018; Di Nota et al., 2021 |
| Is it clearly stated whether an independent, non-police entity reviews incidents? | Does the dashboard indicate whether a use-of-force incident has been reviewed by an independent party/non-police entity, or by an external investigator? This needs to be on the dashboard itself, not in a summary on the website. | Recommendations, President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015 |
| Are medical assistance characteristics provided? | Is there any mention of medical assistance provided to a subject after a use-of-force incident, whether it was provided by an officer afterward, they were brought to the emergency room, 3rd party assisted, or other assistance? | Castillo et al., 2011; Hickman et al., 2021 |
| Does the dashboard indicate whether body-worn camera (BWC) footage exists for the incident and its status? | Is analysis available on the dashboard on whether body-worn camera (BWC) footage is tracked? | BWC Policy Scorecard The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Lum et al., 2020 |
| Is type of resistance by subject examined? | Is there an analysis on the dashboard of subject resistance and how they resisted? Such as verbally, failure to comply, use of a weapon, escape, etc. | Terrill, 2003 |
| Does the dashboard specify the reason for the initial police-citizen interaction? | Does the dashboard mention incident information that led to the initial police-citizen interaction, such as proactive policing, a complaint, or a traffic stop? | Police Executive Research Forum, 2016 |
| Are multi-year comparisons available through visualizations/tables? | Do any of the visualizations, graphs, or tables provide a comparison of incident or agency-level data through a multi-year comparison? (Ex. going beyond having multiple years to choose from, but also including how previous years compare to each other (i.e., longitudinal). This can be compliance, use of force, or any related information. | Sherman, 2013 |
| Is the dashboard interface optimized for mobile devices? | Is the dashboard easily accessible and viewable on mobile devices, specifically through mobile-optimized views that adapt to mobile devices? For instance, instead of side-to-side graphs, having an option to scroll vertically throughout all the graphs (though some websites had this option, but other website features still interfered with mobile use) | Nattamai Kannan, Overby & Sridhar Narasimhan, 2024 |
| Are incidents analyzed beyond a monthly breakdown, such as time of day, day of week, time of year, or similar metrics? | Is there any analysis of use of force incidents beyond a monthly breakdown – such as time of day, day of the week, by season, time of year, or any similar metric beyond monthly? This does not include incident report details that list the full date/time of the event. | Sherman, 2013 |
| Are police budgets examined? | Is there a section on police budgets, whether the total budget for the state, per agency, or similar? | Recommendations, President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015 |
| Are non-use of force agency and/or officer complaints mentioned? | Are complaints mentioned against a certain agency and/or officer, beyond use-of-force-related complaints? Whether general complaints, misconduct, or similar information is on the dashboard. | Bodah & Gilbert, 2024 |
| Is police training information examined/mentioned? | Is there a section on the dashboard that mentions the training police have received, such as the type of training (such as de-escalation tactics) or in terms of compliance with training procedures/practices in particular? This can be at the individual or agency level, but it needs to be on the dashboard itself, not a summary on the website. | Alpert, 2015; Brown & Sutton, 2023; Klinger et al., 2016; Recommendations President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015 |
| Is the use of force policy violations mentioned/examined? | Does the dashboard mention if the use of force-related incident led to a policy violation or possible policy violation, or whether or not the action by the officer was seen as justified/not justified (such as findings by a supervisor)? This should be on the dashboard itself, not in any subsequent materials. | Brown & Sutton, 2023; Obasogie & Newman, 2017; Recommendations President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, 2015 |
| Were de-escalation techniques mentioned/were they attempted? | Does the dashboard mention if police attempted de-escalation techniques? | Brown & Sutton, 2023; Engel et al., 2020; Police Executive Research Forum, 2016; White et al., 2023 |
| Are ambush incidents mentioned? | Is the analysis on the dashboard about whether any of the police incidents were ambushes? Or if there was an ambush incident at all on the dashboard? | Punch, 2011; Shjarback & Maguire, 2021 |
| Are fatalities mentioned/examined (officer or subject)? | Does the dashboard mention if a fatality occurred for either an officer or subject as a result of the police-citizen interaction? Whether through a comparison of all fatalities that have occurred and an overview, or if a fatality is mentioned indirectly in other visualizations/data on the dashboard. | Castillo et al., 2011; Hickman et al., 2021 |
References
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Armstrong, C. L. (2011). Providing a clearer view: An examination of transparency on local government websites. Government Information Quarterly, 28(1), 11-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2010.07.006
Bodah, D., & Gilbert, D. (2022/Updated 2024). The Police Data Transparency Index. Vera Institute of Justice. https://policetransparency.vera.org/
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