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Police Accountability Dashboard Police Accountability Dashboard

About this project

This dashboard is a public resource developed in partnership with ACLU West Virginia to bring greater transparency to policing across the state. It tracks officer movement between departments, highlights patterns in misconduct and accountability, and layers in community demographic data for context.

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Methodology

This dashboard displays public records that are used to track police employment data across departments in West Virginia. Where possible, data is added on police misconduct reports and disciplinary actions to provide a fuller picture of accountability. Community demographic information from the U.S. Census and related datasets is also layered in to help contextualize patterns in policing across different regions

Considerations

  • Data Gaps: Not all departments consistently report employment or disciplinary records, which may result in missing or incomplete entries.
  • Name Matching Limitations: Efforts were made to accurately track individuals across agencies, but common names or incomplete records can occasionally cause misattribution.
  • Misconduct Data Availability: Information on officer misconduct or accountability actions varies by department and is often limited by public access laws.
  • Evolving Dataset: This resource will be updated as new data becomes available; users are encouraged to revisit the dashboard for future insights.

Data

  • Poverty Level (SAIPE): An estimate of the share of people in an area whose incomes fall below poverty thresholds, produced by combining survey data, administrative records, and census data to give reliable small-area estimates. (Sourced from U.S. Census SAIPE Program 2023)
  • Population: The total number of people living within the boundaries of a given county. (Sourced from U.S. Census 2023)
  • Income Inequality: The degree to which income is distributed unevenly among a population or within a specific geographic area, where the value of 0 indicates perfect equality and 1 indicates maximum inequality. (Sourced from U.S. Census 2023)
  • Racial Diversity: The probability that two people chosen at random from a given area belong to different racial or ethnic groups. (Sourced from U.S. Census 2020)
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Future of this project

This dashboard is designed to give members of the public access to public records regarding police employment histories. As new record requests are received, they will be integrated into the dashboard on a rolling basis.

As the dashboard develops, future iterations will incorporate more interactive features in order to create a comprehensive, accessible resource for communities, criminal justice advocates, and legal professionals.

Support and sustainability

  • Securing Grant Funding: Continued development depends on identifying and applying for grant opportunities that support transparency, public data tools, and justice system accountability. To support our work, please visit acluwv.org and click on the donate button.
  • Partnership Development: Building partnerships with advocacy groups, academic institutions, and local stakeholders will help strengthen the tool’s impact and data sources.
  • Long-Term Maintenance: Dedicated funding and technical capacity are essential to keep the dashboard updated, reliable, and accessible as public records evolve.

Acknowledgements and Credits

This project was made possible due to support from the ACLU of West Virginia and the Urban Institute’s Catalyst Grant Program. Dragline would also like to thank Sam Stecklow with the Invisible Institute for his team’s work on tracking police officer employment data nationally.