Record Types taxonomy
Examples and descriptions of the Record Types we're collecting.
Police & public interactions
Accident Reports
Records of vehicle accidents, sometimes published so that people involved in an accident can look up the police report.
Arrest Records
Records of each arrest made in the agency's jurisdiction.
Calls for Service
Records of officers initiating activity or responding to requests for police response. Often called "Dispatch Logs" or "Incident Reports" when published.
Car GPS
Records of police car location. Not generally posted online.
none found
Citations
Records of low-level criminal offenses where a police officer issued a citation instead of an arrest.
Dispatch Logs
Records of calls or orders made by police dispatchers.
Dispatch Recordings
Audio feeds and/or archives of municipal dispatch channels.
Field Contacts
Reports of contact between police and civilians. May include uses of force, incidents, arrests, or contacts where nothing notable happened.
Incident Reports
Reports made by police officers after responding to a call which may or may not be criminal in nature. Not generally posted online.
Misc Police Activity
Records or descriptions of police activity not covered by other record types.
Officer Involved Shootings
Case files of gun violence where a police officer was involved, typically as the shooter. Detailed, often containing references to records like Media Bulletins and Use of Force Reports.
Stops
Records of pedestrian or traffic stops made by police.
Surveys
Information captured from a sample of some population, like incarcerated people or magistrate judges. Often generated independently.
Use of Force Reports
Records of use of force against civilians by police officers.
Vehicle Pursuits
Records of cases where police pursued a person fleeing in a vehicle.
Info about officers
Complaints & Misconduct
Records, statistics, or summaries of complaints and misconduct investigations into law enforcement officers.
Daily Activity Logs
Officer-created reports or time sheets of what happened on a shift. Not generally posted online.
none found
Training & Hiring Info
Records and descriptions of additional training for police officers.
Personnel Records
Records of hiring and firing, certification, discipline, and other officer-specific events. Not generally posted online.
Info about agencies
Annual & Monthly Reports
Often in PDF form, featuring summaries or high-level updates about the police force. Can contain versions of other record types, especially summaries.
Budgets & Finances
Budgets, finances, grants, or other financial documents.
Contact Info & Agency Meta
Information about organizational structure, including department structure and contact info.
Geographic
Maps or geographic data about how land is divided up into municipal sectors, zones, and jurisdictions.
List of Data Sources
Places on the internet, often data portal homepages, where many links to potential data sources can be found.
Policies & Contracts
Policies or contracts related to agency procedure.
Agency-published resources
Crime Maps & Reports
Records of individual crimes in map or table form for a given jurisdiction.
Crime Statistics
Summarized information about crime in a given jurisdiction.
Media Bulletins
Press releases, blotters, or blogs intended to broadly communicate alerts, requests, or other timely information.
Records Request Info
Portals, forms, policies, or other resources for making public records requests.
Resources
Agency-provided information or guidance about services, prices, best practices, etc.
Sex Offender Registry
Index of people registered, usually by law, with the government as sex offenders.
Wanted Persons
Names, descriptions, images, and associated information about people with outstanding arrest warrants.
Jails & Courts specific
Booking Reports
Records of booking or intake into corrections institutions.
Court Cases
Records such as dockets about individual court cases.
Incarceration Records
Records of current inmates, often with full names and features for notification upon inmate release.
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