As part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Congress obligated the Attorney General to “acquire data about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers,” and “publish an annual summary of the data acquired” (see 34 U.S.C. § 12602).
In 1995, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and BJS convened a Police Use of Force Workshop to discuss the associated data collection requirements of the Act. Challenges collecting valid and reliable of use of force statistics were discussed, including the specific identification and collection of excessive force data. Two data collection streams were developed from this effort: BJS and NIJ sponsored the International Association of Chiefs of Police National Use of Force Database Center (which produced the report, Police Use of Force in America, 2001) and BJS's Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS).
- Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)
The PPCS is a national survey of the nature and characteristics of citizen contacts with law enforcement. Data are collected from a nationally representative sample of residents age 16 or older, and include information on contacts with law enforcement such as traffic stops, arrests, handcuffing, and incidents of law enforcement use of force.
Since 1995, BJS and other Department of Justice agencies have engaged in efforts to capture a broader understanding of law enforcement use of force. This includes the following projects: