NYPD announces efforts to give commanders and the public data on cops

The NYPD on Thursday announced two new data initiatives — one for police commanders and the other aimed at giving better public access to department demographics — efforts to move away from older, cumbersome paper-based systems.

At a news conference, police Commissioner Dermot Shea heralded the changes as shifting the NYPD, which he said was “rich with tradition and culture,” away from decades of relying on an antiquated paper documentation and firmly into an era where technology is king.

One new system provides high-level commanders with a special internal app that provides real-time assessments of personnel and their assignments so that they can be directed to areas for emergencies, demonstrations and crime hot spots.

“Crime and protests are not always … planned, we don’t have the luxury of having them and knowing about them in advance,” Shea said. “We need the people who are in the field, on the ground, at a moments notice, to have all the information they need to make decisions and move people around.”

He said the department "had much room to improve on how we account for people on a day-to-day basis, in real time … moving away from paper roll calls.”

The app is a “significant seismic shift” in how the NYPD accounts for its cops in the field, Shea said. The department is expected to roll out the app soon but it will not be available to all field commanders, according to Shea. 

Real-time information about where cops clock in for work will be available on the app, with special electronic readers at precincts and work areas, the commissioner said.

Deputy commissioners Matt Fraser and Danielle Pemberton, both in charge of data technology innovations, described the second initiative as an interactive “dashboard” that will allow the public to see the composition of NYPD civilian and uniformed personnel.  

The dashboard displays can be used by the public to determine percentages of NYPD personnel in any rank, their longevity on the job as well as gender, ethnic and racial composition. The display will also allow anyone who accesses the data on the NYPD's website to compare the information with demographic data for the entire city population.

A second dashboard will give detailed information on hate crimes, showing the race and ethnicity of the victims and the offense's geographic location, Pemberton said.

The app for commanders will give them real-time information. The dashboards accessible by the public will contain information that is updated at least every quarter.

Shea and Frazier noted that much of the information in the dashboard displays is already available on the NYPD website but is spread out over several areas and among different portable document format (PDF) pages. The new displays are part of what Shea said was a series of initiatives to make the department more transparent in its operations.

Pemberton said that additional dashboards were in the works for public access on discipline and use of force.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.