Columbia is now the second city in Missouri to join the White House's Police Data Initiative program.
The Columbia Police Department's crime analysts will release data on racial profiling and officer-involved shootings as a part of the program.
President Obama launched Police Data Initiative (PDI) in May 2015 to improve accountability and transparency between police and citizens. There are 129 jurisdictions participating in PDI across the country. St. Louis was the only other city in Missouri that participating until now. CPD public information officer Bryana Larimer says communication within the city should improve.
“We want to be sure that our data is providing a full picture of what’s really going on in our department and within officer stops and stuff like that,” she said. "We want to make sure that data will be helpful for citizens in the community.”
Larimer said while accountability among police officers is a main objective, she does not think anything major will need to change in that regard within the department.
“As an officer, you get a gun with the potential for going out on the street and not coming home, or vice versa,” Larimer said. “We have to expect that if we’re giving someone that type of belief, that you’re going to be accountable in making sure that the information you’re putting into our records is just as accurate as ever.”
Larimer said the department already has a crime analyst, so she does not expect any budget adjustments or new jobs to be necessary as a result of PDI.
“We understood what the commitment was in becoming part of PDI," said Larimer. "We knew what it would take. That’s why we went ahead.”
Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton began working with White House officials in April on joining PDI. The first two sets of data that will be released, as prioritized by the White House, will be racial profiling statistics and officer involved shootings.
Police departments are not given specific time tables to meet, so they can analyze the data and release it on their own websites, as well as the national public safety database in user-friendly formats.