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Town of Carrboro and Center for Policing Equity Partnership - Initial Data Gap Analysis and Findings
PURPOSE: The purpose of this Information Item is to introduce the Mayor and Councilmembers to the Town’s partnership with the Center for Policing Equity, a policing policy non-profit that adopts a scientific, data-driven approach to understanding inequities in law enforcement and gaps in public safety data collection. Additionally, this Information Item will present the Data Gap Analysis, the first research product of the partnership, that indicates where the Town variously excels and requires improvement in its data collection efforts.
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Department
DEPARTMENT: Town Manager’s Office / Police
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Council Direction
COUNCIL DIRECTION:
X Race/Equity ____ Climate ____ Comprehensive Plan ___ Other
Council Direction Statement
The partnership with the Center for Policing Equity aligns heavily with Council priorities on Race/Equity, given the CPE’s explicit aim of supporting municipalities in their efforts to improve data collection and ultimately provide policy recommendations to facilitate more equitable policing.
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Information
INFORMATION: The Center for Policing Equity is a non-profit organization bringing together former law enforcement professionals, data scientists, and community engagement specialists to analyze and restructure law enforcement policy. The CPE focuses on measuring municipalities’ gaps in data collection and the impact of policing alternatives, while also promoting community-led public safety redesign efforts.
The Town’s partnership with the CPE so far has yielded a thorough analysis of Carrboro’s policing data gaps. This analysis illustrates that Carrboro is presently at the top of CPE’s partners in terms of data collection completeness, with the Town being ranked 2nd for data completeness on Use of Force and 1st among all partners for data completeness on Vehicle Stops.
Next steps in the partnership will include a more thorough analysis of policing policies, as well as Carrboro’s participation in the CPE’s novel socio-economic analysis model. This new model will take into account community factors including demographics, socio-economic status, and historical trends among other data points to better understand the policing environment in Carrboro. The CPE has indicated Carrboro is an ideal candidate for the initial roll out of this new model.
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Fiscal and Staff Impact
FISCAL IMPACT: The CPE offers its services free of charge, with the primary impacts being staff-related as police has had to dedicate work hours to assembling and providing data sets for analysis. Further staff may be drawn into the project as further data analysis and research is conducted.
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Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION: The Council is encouraged to offer any questions or comments for the CPE that can then be transmitted to the organization in our next communications. As this partnership progresses, the Town Manager’s Office will provide further updates as research products are finalized and delivered, which may result in future policy change recommendations.
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