A few days ago I was asked to write a diary on the process of requesting and reviewing data for Kansas and Missouri in light of the DailyKos effort for the MBOPRA. In an effort to understand a lot of what we are looking and how to best make impact, you are looking to understand some basic information:
* Who gets arrested?
* How many arrests lead to successful conviction?
* Racial Makeup of arrests.
* Racial Makeup of convictions.
* Ticketing and non-arrest citations issued in communities.
These variables are important in determining how a state and community assess the performance of their police officers and state troopers, as well as the pattern and success of prosecution within communities and counties. So, how do you get there, and is FOIA the way to go?
Up front I want to say something: FOIA (The Freedom of Information Act) requests are really your last resort. In many cases, you do not need to file a formal request; you only need to file a request if you are barred or prevented from receiving state data. An FOIA request is also strictly adhered to and often treated as adversarial, so while you may get the data, that is all you will get.
http://www2.gwu.edu/...
A FOIA request should be a research tool of last resort; it can take a long time to obtain records and can be costly.
Ascertain whether the documents you are seeking already are publicly available. Review agency websites, including their online FOIA reading rooms.
An FOIA request is also specific: the state is under no obligation to compile reports, do analysis, or provide any comparison work in relation to your request. That is on you. You cannot request of a state that you want those things because they will deny your request. They are required to submit to you data that is already compiled and free for viewing.
This is where you stick with statistics - after all, once you have those for the most part you can compile the rest on your own. If a state stonewalls you, then you move on to putting in FOIA requests.
In order to gain ground in Kansas and Missouri, we began by working with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Missouri Bureau of Investigation. Once they have been contacted, you build a relationship with those organizations about what kind of statistics and data you need and why.
I want to say up front that accomplishing this task is far easier if you have friends within the legal community - judges and/or lawyers and attorneys who will help you make the right connections within those agencies. Even if you do not have a direct connection though, both agencies were open to take written requests for data and response - anything they had internally published or was a matter of the statistics as submitted to the state for budget process.
Once you begin working the submit paperworks, most organizations have a clock - about 30 days - before responses are filtered to you. IF you find that your request is rejected, and that they refuse to provide proof of traceable statistics, THEN you move forward with any FOIA request you may have.
In the case of both the Kansas & Missouri Bureau of investigation, both were fairly open about helping me organize together the requests for data I would need.
Remember: Data is only your first step. It will look like a lot of raw numbers. You will need to work with people to help turn that data into meaningful statistics. While the reports you receive from a state will list things like numbers of reports and tickets and arrests, it doesn't always put it in context of correlation with the local community.
Once you have the information you want from the your Bureau of Investigation - who will have the summaries, your next step is to start working with your state census department, and find a way to make the numbers you have gain meaning. By lining up the numbers with the makeup of a local community you can start to get a better understanding of what is actually happening.
Be prepared, there may be a lot of sifting of data ahead. It isn't as dry as it seams, and getting an understanding of what is going on in your local communities and states is a big step in helping to address the problem.
So, steps to take:
(1) Make a comprehensive list of the data you want.
(2) Make sure this data is not easily public available through websites controlled by the state, as some of this data may be at the ready.
(3) Organize your requests to make sure that you receive the data you want.
(4) Ask for your data in an electronic format. If you request data and forget this step, you may be required to pay printing costs/etc. That's easy to avoid by asking for it electronically.
(5) Find the agencies you will need to interact with to reach your goal.
Most importantly: Be FRIENDLY. There are a lot of people who work in these offices who agree with us on numerous issues. This isn't about confronting people who don't want to help. This is about giving a lot of people an opportunity they have been waiting for to open a conversation. So, when you start the process, be friendly. You'll find even in bright red states numerous people work in places that can really help you - and sometimes provide ideas as to data that you haven't asked for that you need to have.
I've been successful at retrieving a fair amount of the documents I need with a smile and a good attitude and just asking the right questions. Being friendly can save you time, money and resources.
So where are we in Kansas and Missouri on gathering the data? I'm farther than I ever expected, as I have quite a bit of the arrest and process data in hand. Now, I just need to take time to put the raw numbers into context with the communities.
Legislative Update
Kansas introduced some of the first pieces beyond just body cameras in light of Fergusen. Below, see Kansas SB-216, a bill aimed at handling investigation of events by officers and authorities.
SB 216 or The Special Prosecutor Bill, named the investigation and review of deaths involving law enforcement officers, was introduced to our legislature this week.
SB 216 requires that the KBI operate investigations in all law enforcement shootings that results in a death. It prevents local agencies from investigating themselves in shootings where someone is killed. It requires that if fault is found to have the Attorney General to prosecute the case himself or assign a special prosecutor to prevent any conflicts of interest from arising and remove the impression of bias that families currently experience with local District Attorney's investigating the cases.
This law will ensure a common sense approach to law enforcement and provide many families some relief in knowing that their loved one's deaths were not in vain.