What counts as police violence? A case study of data in the CATO Institute's police misconduct reporting project

Abstract

Background: This article presents a case study about the role of data in the CATO Institute's Police Misconduct Reporting Project and reflects on what constitutes police violence. Analysis: Augmenting this data aggregation work, the article turns to additional data projects focused on recording police crime and misconduct to gather a broader understanding of incidents of police violence beyond acts that cause death. Conclusion and implications: It is only when we look at data on acts of violence that occur when an officer is on duty and off-duty, with or without a firearm, that a clearer sense of the traumatic cycle of policing can be understood. This way of looking at police data requires both broader practices of "copwatching," as well as a broader definition of what counts as violence.