“We have heard from many voices in our community who are looking for easily accessible data. We listened, and made it a priority to take action,” says CSPD Chief Vince Niski. Adding that, “I believe this data hub will be of great value and benefit for everyone. It will not only allow you to explore data on relevant and important topics, it will also paint a clear picture of the CSPD’s work in the community.”
The overarching goal of this new website is to be a robust and frequently updated data hub with levels of information and data that meet a range of needs, from a community member who may be interested in higher-level takeaway points to the researcher who wants to download and analyze the data sets.
The new website consists of:
- Public Safety Highlights: These highlights give an in-depth look into specific data sets on topics that are of public interest.
- Data Catalog: Allows users to browse, download, and create visualizations on all data sets available sorted by topic.
For this initial launch, the following will be available for public view:
- Feature Story: Insights on Use of Force
- Feature Story: Crime Trends
- Crime Data: Raw data available for those who want to further explore this topic.
- Use of Force Report Data: Raw data available for those who want to further explore this topic.
The CSPD is committed to transparency with our community, and will continue to update the website with additional Public Safety Highlights and data sets as they become available. Over the next few months, the following topics are scheduled to be released:
- Traffic Safety in our City
- Demographics of Sworn Employees
- Officer Involved Shootings
- Learn about Arrests
- And more…
Chief Niski made it a goal to have this project launched in January 2021. When speaking on the new website, Chief Niski states, “We are a great department with outstanding employees. However, where we have failed is telling our community about who we are, what we do, and why we do it. This new website is a step in the right direction.” While this project has been in the works for several months, the needs of the Mayor’s Office, our City Council, and most importantly our community, has accelerated this process. “We are excited about this release, and everything else that is to come,” says Chief Niski.
Mayor John Suthers also adds, “The Colorado Springs Police Department has done a lot of work over the past year to improve community relationships. The data hub is an additional tool to increase transparency, provide easier access to public information, and help create a better understanding of the great work our police department does, as well as where we can improve.”
This new website was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the CSPD, as well as the City of Colorado Springs Communications Team, Office of Innovation, and Information Technology Division. The Office of Innovation manages the City’s open data program to enable residents to better connect with the City. The City currently publishes open financial data on OpenBudgetCOS. The Police Department’s Data Hub is the next step to facilitating a more transparent and accountable government as the Innovation team works on improving and expanding its Data Management Program.
The CSPD will utilize Tyler Technologies’ Socrata platform to display data from department records and databases on the new open data portal, where it can be explored by our community. “Open data programs like CSPD’s bring government closer to the people it serves. Tyler is pleased to support Chief Niski and the city of Colorado Springs in building more transparent government. This technology will provide residents and city leaders easy access to actionable data,” said Franklin Williams, president of Tyler Technologies’ Data & Insights Division. For any additional information on the Socrata platform, please contact media.team@tylertech.com.
To access the newly launched site, please see: policedata.coloradosprings.gov