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57 B.C. L. Rev. 117 (2016)
Using Data to Reduce Police Violence

handle is hein.journals/bclr57 and id is 117 raw text is: USING DATA TO REDUCE POLICE VIOLENCE STEPHEN RUSHINt Abstract: Congress passed the Death in Custody Reporting Act in 2014, which created a national database on civilian deaths causedby law enforcement. The Fed- eral Bureau of Investigations and the Bureau of Justice Statistics have subsequently also announced new efforts to collect data on the frequency of deadly encounters between law enforcement and civilians. This Article explores howthe federal gov- ernment could use these newly amassed datasets to reduce police violence. This Article makes two contributions. The first Part of the Article argues that data alone will be insufficient to bring about widespread reform in local police departments. By making these datasets publicly available, the federal government couldincentiv- ize some police departments to prioritize reductions in police violence. But even when faced with troubling statistical trends, there is no guarantee that some of the nation's most problematic law enforcement agencies will voluntarily make expen- sive policy and procedural reforms. Thus, the second Part of the Article considers some ways that the U.S. AttorneyGeneral couldharness these new datasets to im- prove the use of federal civil rights litigation against local police departments. Un- der 42 U.S.C. § 14141, the Attorney General has the power to seekequitable relief against police departments engaged in a patternor practice of unconstitutional mis- conduct, including excessive uses of force. Byusing this data, the Attorney General can incrementally improve the enforcement of § 14141 in a way that incentives local police departments to implement reforms aimed at reducing officer violence. INTRODUCTION Several recent, high profile police killings of civilians have ignited a na- tional debate about the regulation of law enforcement.1 Many advocates have 0 2016, Stephen Rushin. All rights reserved. * Assistant Professor, University of Alabama Schoolof Law. I received helpful comments from Ronald Krotoszynski, Heather Elliott, Avlana Eisenberg, Sharon Rush, Erika Wilson, Jason Cade, Debbie Dinner, Shawn Bayern, Wilson Parker, Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff, Jonathan Nash, Abigail Perdue, Ann Lipton, Usha Rodrigues, Mark Weidemaier, Stephanie Bornstein, Shu-Yi Oei, and An- drew Tuch. Most notably, the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Eric Garner of New York, New York, and Tamir Rice of Cleveland, Ohio have sparked national outrage. See, e.g., Julie Bosman & Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Grief and Protests Follow Shooting of a Teenager, N.Y. TIMES (Aug. 10, 2014), http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/1 1/us/police-say-mike-brown-was-killed-after-struggle-for- gun.html?_r=0 [httpi/perma.cc/7UUN-GSL8] (providing an early account of Michael Brown's death at the hands of the Ferguson Police Department); J. David Goodman & Al Baker, Wave of Protests After Grand Jury Doesn't Indict Officerin Eric Gamer Chokehold Case, N.Y. TIMES (Dec. 3, 2014), http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/nyregion/grand-jury-said-to-bring-no-charges-in-staten-island- 117

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