This report, based on an expert panel convened by RAND and the Police Executive Research Forum on behalf of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) explored using data governance and data management in law enforcement to build a research agenda that includes strategy, implementation, and needs for innovation.
On behalf of the National Institute of Justice, the Police Executive Research Forum and RAND convened a panel to identify the most-pressing needs to leverage data governance and data management (DG/DM) to enable major improvements in the quality, availability, and interoperability of law enforcement data. The panelists identified five themes: improving law enforcement's DG/DM capabilities; improving protections on law enforcement data; improving community participation in data decision-making; developing novel data and processes to support broad, multiagency conceptions of community safety; and improving the value of traditional law enforcement data. The panelists rated the problems and potential solutions they described to identify a set of high-priority needs for improving the quality and integrity of community safety data for law enforcement agencies and all other agencies and groups involved in the community safety enterprise. These needs and supporting context are described in this report. The highest-priority theme emerging from the workshop was using DG/DM to improve community safety data protections in various ways, including developing guidelines, core processes, training, and guidance for agencies to work with vendors and improving community participation in data decision-making. Deficiencies in the quality and interoperability of law enforcement data have been identified as major problems that hamper law enforcement decision-making and operations.