[T]he Vermont State Police is the first statewide police agency in the country to join a nationwide initiative to increase transparency about policing.
Vermont’s largest law enforcement agency announced Wednesday that it is joining the White House Police Data Initiative. The state police released five sets of data in concert with the announcement.
“This is not an event,” Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said. “This is just the beginning of a process.”
The first five data sets are Vermont State Police numbers on traffic stops between 2010 and 2015; traffic fatalities and seatbelt use since 2010; DUI arrests since 2013; DUI arrests involving a crash since 2013; and officer-involved shootings since 1977. The data sets are posted online.
Flynn emphasized that the police force plans to continue to release new data sets and hopes to explore further aspects of the criminal justice system, including looking at decisions made by prosecutors and defense attorneys. Data could help track disparities in how different offenses are handled in different parts of the state, he said.
At this point, the database has only information on the Vermont State Police. Flynn said he is hopeful that the state will be able to find a way to loop in data from local and regional law enforcement agencies.
According to Col. Matthew Birmingham, director of the state police, leaders within the force will use the data to establish strategic goals for the organization as a whole and within units of the agency.
Mark Hughes of the racial justice nonprofit Justice For All attended the event and spoke about the importance of data in police accountability.
Hughes expressed frustration about difficulties in accessing raw police data across Vermont’s dozens of law enforcement agencies.
“We’re sending people to Mars right now. There’s no reason we can’t do this,” Hughes said.