Empowering the People

The 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 data custodian for the collection, analyzing, and sharing of 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.

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

Completed

  • Listening sessions with stakeholder groups (community, legislative, attorneys general, etc.)
  • Focus groups with police agencies and community members
  • External data governance group established
  • External subject-matter expert review panel established
  • Data dictionary built and reviewed
  • Use-of-force policies collected, collated, and prepared for comparison coding
  • Survey of current technology used by policing agencies
  • Transparency Accountability Index developed
  • Training module content and organization
  • Data dictionary finalized

In progress

  • Database architecture
  • Data security and management plan
  • Design for data visualizations and the dashboard
  • Data automation integration sessions with external vendors
  • Refinement of contextualization instruments
  • Officer training modules
  • Smartphone data collection app for officers
  • Agency beta tester orientation
  • Officer training module production
  • Website and dashboard development
  • Additional focus groups

Next steps

  • Agency and officer beta testing
  • Data collection beta testing
  • Near-time user support for agencies and officers
  • Website and dashboard usability testing
  • Public website launch
  • Statistical education and training for community users
  • Continuing focus groups