Washington State
Data Exchange for Public Safety

WADEPS is an online platform designed to help law enforcement agencies meet new statewide use-of-force reporting and public accessibility requirements. It will serve as the central hub for collecting, analyzing, and sharing law enforcement interaction data with agencies and the public, and will include a suite of innovative tools and resources for both agency-level and state-level analysis.

WADEPS will:

  • Modernize policing data collection.
  • Provide analytical resources and tools.
  • Strengthen community-police relations.
  • Support evidence-based decision-making.

WADEPS

Contact us:
wa.deps@wsu.edu

Legislative Background

RCW Chapter 10.118 was signed into law on May 18. 2021.

Findings

“The legislature finds that law enforcement transparency and accountability are vital in maintaining public trust. Data collection is one essential tool to allow the public, law enforcement, and policymakers to analyze the effectiveness of existing police practices, determine which policies and training work and do not work, and avoid unintended consequences by supporting policy decisions with clear and relevant data.

The legislature finds that creating a statewide data collection program that creates a publicly accessible database to track metrics will help to promote openness, transparency, and accountability, build stronger police-community relations, improve trust and confidence in policing services, evaluate specific areas of concern such as biased policing and excessive force, and ultimately improve the quality of policing services.”

An RFP was issued by the state Attorney General’s office in November 2022 to “contract with an institution of higher education to implement the statewide use of force data program” and develop a system for law enforcement agencies to report, collect, and publish the use of force data reports required in RCW 10.118.030.

Milestones

January 2024

  • Complete focus groups with police agencies and community members.
  • Develop officer training materials and data collection manual.
  • Develop instrument(s) for enhanced contextualization.

April 2024

  • Complete beta testing for data collection and visualization.
  • Complete usability testing on website and online forms.
  • Launch public informational website.

July 2024

  • Convene data governance committee.
  • Initial training available to all law enforcement agencies.
  • Develop law enforcement agency comparison groups.
  • Launch public data visualization website.