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Two Democratic senators introduced a bill this week aimed at changing what former Attorney General Eric Holder once called the “unacceptable” lack of data on the subject of police shootings.
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Tuesday introduced the Police Reporting of Information, Data and Evidence Act (PRIDE), which would require states to report to the Justice Department any time a law enforcement officer is involved in a shooting and any instance where an officer or a civilian is seriously hurt or killed as a result of the use of force. States would also have to report details like the age, race and location of any victims; whether or not the civilians present were armed; and how many civilians and officers were involved.
“Too many members of the public and police officers are being killed, and we don’t have reliable statistics to track these tragic incidents,” Boxer said in a statement Tuesday. “This bill will ensure that we know the full extent of the problem so we can save lives on all sides.”
There is currently no comprehensive federal program that collects data on law enforcement-involved shootings and use of force, making that information essentially impossible to find. The FBI’s uniform crime report only includes police-involved killings that are considered “justifiable homicides” — that is, killings that law enforcement officials consider excusable, like a civilian who is killed while committing a felony.
