What is a Data Source?

A record of information on the

A Data Source is a web page, file, database, or filing cabinet somewhere which contains records about a criminal legal system agency (law enforcement, courts, corrections). Often, they are published by the agency itself. Many more records are hidden behind records request processes.

Data Sources can be records describing an agency's activities, like traffic stops or use of force policies. They describe agencies in the criminal legal system like the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police or Allegheny County Jail.

What kinds of Data Sources are best?

Finding all the Data Sources for your hometown is a human-sized project that can make a real impact.

If it's about a police, court, or jail system, we want to track it. This includes FOIA'd documents, web URLs, and independently scraped records.