FY2022 Methodological Research on Measuring Community- and Officer-Initiated Law Enforcement Activity

OJP is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and racial equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety and protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community. Data on community- and officer-initiated law enforcement (LE) activity provides a wealth of largely untapped opportunities for researchers and practitioners to evaluate and develop policies and practices. Systematic data collection about police activity would— facilitate better understanding of LE workload, to determine the nature and circumstances of LE assistance or intervention and what happens as a result of the LE activity. enable LE agencies and policymakers to make evidence-informed decisions about how to use LE resources, evaluate police responses, improve officer safety, improve stakeholder service, and address other community issues, such as drug abuse and mental illness. support development of national best practices for how computer-aided dispatch (CAD) data are collected and stored, to facilitate a long-term, sustainable measure of police-public events.