Texas does not pursue the police nationwide. Only a few countries in the country do it

Deaths by the persecution hunts are at An all -time high. These activities and their sometimes fatal consequences have focused on sharper focus Cities like Fort Worth. However, the federal data hardly scratch the surface – it only explains chase that ended with a death.

In Texas, nobody knows how many persecution hunts the police initiated every year. Not the Texas Ministry of Public Security. Not the families whose relatives are killed or injured in activities. Not the Texas legislators who are commissioned to adopt laws on police work in the state.

But Texas is not the only state that flies blindly – the vast majority of the states have no system for the persecution of the police. This falls to the local police stations, each of which has their own method for approval, categorizing and tracking activities.

In order to obtain a feeling for the total number of employment in a state, the residents would have to collect information from each department through open records-a time-consuming and expensive process.

“Unfortunately, some people still understand the real nature and the ability to support this data on their law enforcement authorities in the law enforcement industry,” said Alex Del Carmen, criminologist at Tarleton State University. “And they do not appreciate the importance of data acquisition … how important it is that data interpret, analyze and implement.”

A review of the state guidelines of Kera News and in the Fort Worth report showed that even in states in which persecution takes place, their processes are not always created equally.

In the review, six countries with a version of a nationwide database were determined on police activities. However, these states differ whether local authorities are necessary or only encouraged – report their persecution hunts to a regulatory authority. And if there are reporting obligations, they are not always strictly enforced.

However, Del Carmen said that if states have rules for the pursuit of police activities, these rules should be observed and regularly enforced.

“It should be a mandate,” said Del Carmen. “And what that means is that the public should expect police authorities to adhere to principles, guidelines and the law as they enforce in public.”

Mandated reporting

California and Texas led the country between 1996 and 2015 in the total persecution of deaths. This fact inspired together with an alarming number of accidents that injured or killed innocent viewers Senate Bill 719 In 2005.

California already asked the law enforcement authorities to pursue certain information after persecution such as the persecution of behavior and whether someone who was involved in the persecution was violated. When SB 719 came into force in 2006, it expanded these requirements to contain information such as the persecution, regardless of whether the persecution led to a collision that injured or killed an uneducated viewer, and the result of the persecution.

“I only think that the more information we have, the more educated we are about what works, what does not work and what does not have to change,” said Romero. “And if it works, you know what? Leave it alone. “

Agencies must submit a form within 30 days of the persecution in which the circumstances of a chase to the California Highway Patrol are listed. CHP then creates the data in a Annual report And submit it to the state legislators. The agency also maintains an internal persecution system that is used to report and review persecution data.

Other states have had guidelines for several decades. Minnesota has mandatory his law enforcement authorities For 36 years. The information goes through the additional reporting system of the agency and are published in the Minnesota Crime Data Explorer.

In Pennsylvania, legislators created their own state Police persecution database for police persecution 1994. And since the current system in 1996, all police authorities in Pennsylvania have been obliged to pursue their police tests and to report them to the Pennsylvania state police.

PSP then analyzes the data and sends an annual report on police hunts to various companies, such as: The reports provide a general view of why employment was initiated and terminated how many deaths and arrests were made.

This data is used to inform the law enforcement authorities what works and what is not when it comes to activities. But it is due to individual agencies to make these changes, said Adam Reed, Communication Director of PSP.

“It is a really important instrument in which the police authorities are available to look at this data and look at the trends to see how they can improve and make things safer,” said Reed.

Some states have recently taken over the advantages of pursuing persecution data. After a number of top -class persecution incidents, Connecticut's legislators began to request the law enforcement authorities in 2019 Report information about your activities to the state, which is then compiled in an annual report.

This report describes specific data of the department level, including the number of jury civil servants, the number of persecution hunts and the persecution rate per 100 police officers. The law of Connecticut also requires annual reports to legislators, whereby all legislative recommendations have been collected on the basis of the persecution data officials.

Insufficient enforcement

In Pennsylvania, law enforcement agencies maintain different reporting proceedings, so that the nationwide data are not comprehensive. A recently carried out investigation by NBC Philadelphia The city's police authority had not reported any more dozens of employment to PSP since 2019.

The agency did not shared the NBC Philadelphia State Police whether the local law enforcement authorities report their data correctly or fully. The law does not give the state police the authority to force local departments to pursue their persecution data more diligently, nor do these departments have consequences.

Reed recognized that this lack of data leaves an incomplete image of police hunts throughout the state.

“But we strive to ensure the cooperation with all police authorities in Pennsylvania, and we urgently urge that the corresponding data are entered promptly,” he said. “That will help us paint a bigger, clearer picture of everything.”

A few states in the west, the reporting is even less thorough. The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board willingly recognizes that this report does not include every chase.

“The reports reported are probably only a small percentage of what is taking place in the entire state,” wrote Executive Director Keith Calloway in a report from 2023. “Agencies have their own documents, and many do not give documents about the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. “

The Wisconsin Ministry of Transport demands from law enforcement authorities Use a form To collect information about the police's employment every year and to include the circumstances of the persecution, the result of involving the number of injuries or deaths resulting from this and other relevant information.

However, this information is not easily accessible online as in other states. According to a spokesman, the department is currently working on a new platform to divide the persecution data more easily.

Obstacles for implementation

There are a number of reasons why police authorities may not pursue their persecution data carefully or at all, said Del Carmen. A standardized method for recording persecution data in more than 2,700 law enforcement authorities in such a large state as in Texas could have a challenge.

Some departments continuously see the collecting and analyzing of data as an administrative burden. Agencies across the country have to deal with Lack of officers And limited budgets.

However, Del Carmen said that managing these challenges in Texas was feasible, and agencies with an existing police persecution system should adhere to their promises. Status databases can help determine what works – and what not – when it comes to persecution. This can be used to update the guidelines if necessary, said del Carmen.

“Ultimately, law enforcement works directly for the public,” said Del Carmen. “And so this is perhaps the greatest sign of transparency and accountability.”

Romero's legislation, which required more standardized training in police hunts, did not go off without an initial return from California law enforcement groups. Compromise was a must, she said.

It was also a cross -party effort. Romero was a Democrat and SB 719 during her tenure was now witnessed by the former Republican Bob Marget, the former senator of the California Senator. Although the political make -up in Texas is very different from California, Romero said that it was necessary for these large states to pursue the nation in the police, even if progress is incremental and rely on resistance.

“I always think, I'm not afraid of data. Data should help us. I believe in data, ”said Romero. “I think the more protection and rules and training we have, and the enforcement of it, I think we are in a better position to protect ourselves by doing the right thing.”

Do you have a tip? E -mail Toluwani Osibamowo under tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on X @Tosibamowo.

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Emily Wolf is a reporter for the government's obligation to account for the Fort Worth Report. Contact them at emily.wolf@fortwortheport.org or @_wolfemily