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BPD releases data on people officers talk to long enough to warrant a report
By adamg on Sat, 01/09/2016 - 11:25am
Boston Police have released a database of Field Interrogation and Observation (FIO) records from 2011 through April of last year, so have at it, data analysts (you can download a 3.2M XLS copy). The release comes in response to an ACLU public-records request - more than a year ago.
BPD outlines the basic results:
- The number of FIO reports made by our officers dropped 39.3% from years 2008-2014. From 2011 through 2014, the number of FIO reports made remained consistently low.
- 88.2 % of all FIO subjects were male.
- 58.5% of all FIO subjects were black, 22.8% were white, 13.1% were Hispanic, .9% were Asian/Pacific Islander, .3% were Middle Eastern / East Indian, and less than 1% were Native American / Alaskan. These racial distributions remain fairly stable over each year. A basic comparison between the racial composition of the City of Boston and racial composition of subjects in BPD FIO shows there were significant disparities in the data, but just this raw comparison is inappropriate. While nearly 59% of the FIO subjects were black while only about 23% of Boston residents identify themselves as black, this comparison does not consider any contextual information such as neighborhoods, crime hot spot locations, or offending populations.
- The average age of all FIO subjects was 26 years old. The age group stopped the most was between 18 and 24 years old (37.1%).
- 74.3% of subjects FIO’d had prior records reported by the officers.
- 64.6% of all FIOs did not involve a Frisk and/or Search..
- Of the FIO interactions that did involve a Frisk and/or Search the raw data shows the percentages of Black (40.3%), White (24.3%), Hispanic (35.2%), and Asian/other (27.9%) subjects are frisked and/or searched during FIO encounters. The Department expects that further analysis will significantly reduce disparities in these interactions.
- As expected, the unit that generated the most reports during this time period is the Youth Violence Strike Force, with approximately 30% of the reports. Also as expected, of the top 50 police officers who generated FIO reports, 64% of the reports were written by Youth Violence Strike Force officers.
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Comments
it has names and other identifying information
I've talked with officers after witnessing an accident or crime, and given my name when they asked. I assumed they might need my name for legal witness or followup questions.
Is some "open records activist" (sometimes shilling for a privacy-invading company) eventually going to result in me walking away without helping?
Why would you walk away?
You don't have to even give your name or info unless you want to (if you are a bystander).
These records are kept for an important public purpose.
You walk away for anonymity, of course
Any armchair critics want to give their names and addresses?
But you don't have to
If you aren't being detained or charged, you don't have to give your info.
I witnessed a crime and was told up front that it wasn't necessary to identify myself. I chose to do so, but the officers were very clear that I was under zero obligation. They wanted the information.
I don't know the exact details but....
I believe a few years ago the federal government told police departments that they could not keep names in a "database" unless that information was related to some sort of criminal activity. Witnesses and Victims to crimes would be in a different system, as their names would be in actual reports.
So long story short, your name would not be in this database if you were simply a witness to a crash or crime, although you might show up in a report as a witness. If someone requested that report, your name would be redacted.
did you look at the data?
did you look at the data? there are officers' names but not civilians' names. and this came about due to a lawsuit from the ACLU, not a company.
Why is there no mention of
Why is there no mention of gay and/or transgender?
Seriously?
Probably same reason they don't list religion, educational background, number of children, favorite movie - it's not obvious and they don't ask
I'm a cop and I promise
I'm a cop and I promise everyone, I will, above all else, start asking and documenting people's favorite movies.
"Sir, you fit the description of a robbery suspect they just broadcast on the radio but first, who do you like in this year's Oscar race? My money's on 'Spotlight'".
Wise Ass
This is your mentality as a cop to be unprofessional and make a comment like that? I wonder how much worse it must get when you actually deal with people.
How sad that you
How sad that you misunderstand satire for literalism
Oh horrors!
Mr. or Ms. Cop isn't being an arsehole, but is making light of a silly comment.
How will we ever live free or die?
You kind of beat me to it...
"This is your mentality as a cop to be unprofessional and make a comment like that?"
His money should be on the famous hit, "Truth".
Wonder no more good sir, or
Wonder no more good sir, or ma'am! As the cop in question, when I actually deal with people, which is daily, I am polite, lighthearted and reasonable. Do I have bad days like anyone else? Of course, I'm human. Last Friday when a fellow officer was shot, my mind and emotions were all over the place. That wasn't a good day. But the vast majority of the time, I try to keep it playfully cordial with most people because I've learned they are more like to approach and speak with a jovial cop than someone as grumpy as you.
(Unless of course it's a pretty serious call where I then try to empathize above all else).
But on to the hard hitting question: Who do you like in this year's Oscar race?
When done properly, F.I.O.'s serve a critical purpose
When done properly, F.I.O.'s serve a critical purpose, so it's sad to see them down by almost 40%. While only those arrested or motorists stopped for a traffic violation must give their information, a police officer never ceases to be a citizen and can engage anyone in conversation and make observations. After casually introducing myself to a potential suspect and obtaining their information, I used to like to ask, "any new tattoos?" and then note them on the FIO form. Or scars, marks or disabilities like "scar above right eye", "pierced lip" etc. Even unique articles of clothing. Invariably, when something serious happened and a witness said the suspect had a shamrock tattoo with initials "PJ" on his left bicep, a prior FIO with that descriptor could help narrow the search and either identify or eliminate a suspect without looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. It's a shame but understandable that most officers can no longer be bothered with FIO's for fear of backlash.