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2h ago

California Launches First Statewide Database of Police Misconduct and Use-of-Force Records

The platform empowers public oversight by letting users query redacted misconduct files under California’s transparency laws.

A stack of paper on a red stool.
A new database of police misconduct and use-of-force records allows searches by name, agency or keyword.
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Overview

  • The Police Records Access Project went live on Aug. 4 via the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, KQED and CalMatters as the nation’s first statewide searchable internal affairs repository.
  • It centralizes 1.5 million pages from nearly 12,000 use-of-force and misconduct cases across 700 law enforcement agencies under Senate Bills 1421 and 16.
  • Built by UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program, the Berkeley Institute for Data Science and Stanford Big Local News, the database uses generative AI to process and organize documents.
  • All records follow strict state redaction protocols that remove audio, video, graphic imagery and personal details of sexual assault or domestic violence victims.
  • Users can search by name, agency or keyword, and the database will be updated continuously as additional files are released.