Overview of Report
In July 2020, the CSPD proactively sought proposals from qualified firms/consultants to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the police department’s use of force. The requirements for the scope of work included:
- Vendor will conduct a comprehensive analysis of CSPD use of force, to include demographic data.
- Vendor will use scientifically valid methods to determine whether and to what extent CSPD use of force data reflects disparities among various demographic categories.
- Vendor will compare CSPD’s use of force data to similarly situated cities as one benchmark to provide context to the study.
- Vendor will identify possible reasons for any disparities that are found, grounded in extant research.
- Vendor will make recommendations for future data collection and research methodology that could be used by CSPD to help clarify reasons for any disparities in force that are found.
- Vendor will provide scientifically valid recommendations on reducing disparities in police use force, which may include community recommendations and police recommendations.
- Vendor will conduct a presentation in a public forum in Colorado Springs on the findings.
While the department already performs an analysis every year on use of force as part of our CALEA accreditation, the department took it a step further to self-initiate this review from an outside party.
In January 2021, the CSPD entered into a contract with Transparency Matters, LLC, to conduct this study.
Then Chief Vince Niski said, “We believe there is a lot of benefit in bringing in outside experts to provide a transparent, fair, and thorough analysis. Additionally, we believe that we must engage in sophisticated analyses to get a clear and true understanding of use of force. In order to do that, we need experts in their field who can correctly analyze complicated data. And having outside expertise paves the way for true and impartial analysis for both the department and our community… I'm confident we have chosen some of the country's best experts to do this work, and I am excited to work alongside them through this project.”
Now after many months of analytical review, Transparency Matters, LLC has completed their study. Now Chief Adrian Vasquez says, “It has been a great privilege to work with Transparency Matters, LLC, as they are leading experts in their field and I deeply value everything they have done for both the Colorado Springs Police Department and our community. I am committed to transparency, which is why we are releasing the report within just days of us receiving it ourselves.”
About Transparency Matters, LLC
Transparency Matters, LLC (TM) is an independent law enforcement consultant focused on building transparent policing policies and processes that enhance public trust.
To learn more, please visit their website: https://www.transparencymattersllc.com/
To learn more about those who conducted this study, please see their bios below:
John R. “Rick” Brown
Robin S. Engel
Jon D. Kurtz
Dr. Jennifer Calnon Cherkauskas
Dr. Nicholas Corsaro
Timeline of Study
When | What | Notes/Links/Documents |
---|---|---|
Early 2019 | Command Staff discusses hiring an outside consultant to conduct a use of force study | |
July 2020 | Request for Proposal (RFP) for the use of force study is issued | |
August 2020 | City receives six proposals | |
September 2020 | RFP Committee is formed to review proposals | Note: Committee makeup – CSPD Commander, CSPD Civilian Manager, PPA Board member, Member of the Colorado Springs Community, UCCS Professor |
October 2020 | RFP Committee selects Transparency Matters | PDF: Transparency Matters RFP |
December 2020 | The final contract and order to proceed is signed | |
January 2021 | CSPD announces contract with Transparency Matters | PDF: Announcement Press Release |
January 2021 (through February 2022) | Data transfer begins (use of force data, officer demographics, arrest data, etc.) | Link: CSPD Data Hub Link: All CSPD Policies Link: CSPD Use of Force Specific Policies (see below) |
May 2021 | Community Use of Force Survey is made available electronically and in hard copy formats | PDF: Community Survey (coming soon...) |
June 2021 | Community Survey closed | |
July 2021 | BWC footage and associated cases and use of force reports were shared with the Transparency Matters team to analyze a sampling Pointing of Firearm incidents. | |
July 2021 | Transparency Matters team hosts focus groups
| |
December 2021 | Officer Survey conducted | |
March 2022 | CSPD received and reviewed the draft report, allowing CSPD and Transparency Matters, LLC to discuss areas for clarification | |
April 22, 2022 | CSPD received the final report from Transparency Matters, LLC | PDF: Final Report (including Executive Summary) |
April 26, 2022 | CSPD and Transparency Matters, LLC conduct public presentation of findings | Note: See video below for full presentation |
August 2023 | February 2023 through August 2023 Updates | PDF: Overall Progress through August 2023 PDF: CSPD Announces Selection of Independent Training Auditor Vendor |
June 2024 | Overall Progress through June of 2024 | PDF: Overall Progress through June of 2024 |
Video of Community Presentation
Video of City Council Presentation
Study Findings
- Full Report
- Infographic – CSPD Use of Force Policy Comparison to Other Agencies
- Infographic – Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Use of Force
- Infographic – Transparency Matters Recommendations
Recommendations to CSPD from Study
CSPD Response
CSPD is carefully reviewing the entire report in-depth. Chief Vasquez chose to release all this information to the public soon after receiving the final report, so CSPD does not yet have detailed responses for every recommendation. Chief Vasquez is committed to a thoughtful response to each recommendation, one that considers both internal and external input. There are some recommendations, such as better data collection on pointing firearms, that could be implemented quickly. Other recommendations, such as conducting an audit of CSPD use of force training, will take more time. This website will be updated as appropriate to reflect steps CSPD has taken in that quarter to address the recommendations.
Recommendations
- Enhance agency culture that emphasizes, reinforces, and rewards the use of de-escalation tactics and skills by officers through systematic documentation, continual reinforcement of policies and training, and development of accountability and oversight mechanisms.
- Continue the processes established for the CSPD’s Use of Force Committee for comprehensive and routine reviews and updates to policy and communicate this work internally and externally.
- Review and update the documentation, policy, training, and supervisory oversight related to the pointing of firearms at a person.
- Conduct an independent audit of CSPD use of force training to ensure content, quality, and duration of use of force training is meeting industry best practices.
- Enhance transparency through the timely release of information to the community to improve public confidence and trust.
- Continue to enhance supervision, accountability & oversight related to use of force.
- Review and make appropriate changes to use of force data collection to meet best practices.
- Work internally and externally to continually reduce racial/ethnic disparities in use of force. Continue to work internally and externally to continually monitor and reduce racial/ethnic disparities in use of force.
Common Q&A
What research questions does the study address?
Q: What research questions does the study address?
A: After Transparency Matters, LLC was awarded the contract, they worked with CSPD to refine the research questions the study would address. The resulting research questions were:
- What factors contribute to the use (and severity) of force by CSPD officers?
- How does CSPD use of force policy and training compare to similarly situated (i.e., peer) cities?
- Does the rate and severity of force align with racial/ethnic groups’ representation at risk for having force used against them by police?
- What are possible explanations for any disparities found in police use and severity of force?
- What factors contribute to the likelihood of officer and citizen injuries?
- How do community members perceive use of force and police-community relations?
- How do CSPD officers perceive use of force and police-community relations?
- What improvements should be made to CSPD’s use of force policies, training, and data collection and analysis to meet current best practices?
How did the researchers come to their conclusions?
Q: How did the researchers come to their conclusions?
A: The Transparency Matters research team conducted a comprehensive and independent assessment of CSPD's use of force using policies; practices; official data; pointing firearm reports, case reports, and video; and data collected from community members and CSPD officers.
They used a lot of different kinds of statistical tests on official CSPD data to give the fullest picture of officers' use of force and pointing of firearms. We cannot explain these methods better than they did. We are confident in their very comprehensive analysis of CSPD data.
How does CSPD compare to other agencies in how often officers use force and any disparities?
Q: How does CSPD compare to other agencies in how often officers use force and any disparities?
A: The experts said that type of comparison is not valid for several reasons. They compared our policies to best practice standards and peer agencies, but did not compare our force data.
What did they find in the policy comparison?
Q: What did they find in the policy comparison?
A: The experts said CSPD is a leader among its peers in these areas:
- Rather than having a single use of force policy, CSPD has separate policies for the authorization of force, use of specific weapons, documentation of force, training, supervisory review, and investigations
- Rather than using a "use of force continuum," CSPD uses the Critical Decision-Making Model
- CSPD strictly prohibits the use of chokeholds
They found CSPD aligns with best practices standards and its peers on several key areas:
- Requiring use of de-escalation techniques, when possible
- Verbal warning before deadly force
- Rendering of first aid
- Duty to intervene in excessive force
They found CSPD can improve to meet best practices by publicly issuing a use of force report annually. They did note, however, that making their report available to the public represents CSPD's recognition of the importance of transparency and building community trust. CSPD plans to implement this recommendation in 2022.
What did they find from the data analyses?
Q: What did they find from the data analyses?
A: Because the study was so comprehensive and used such complex statistical methods, we encourage people to review the results as explained by the experts in the report. We won't try to cover all the information in this answer. Some people may find the results in the Executive Summary to be enough information; others will want to have more information, but not every detail, found in the "Section Summary;" and people with an interest in all the nuances of the statistics and results may want to review all the details in the report. We have made the entire report available to the public to allow people to review it at whatever level they choose.
Are there racial/ethnic disparities in use of force?
Q: Are there racial/ethnic disparities in use of force?
A: The report contains a lot of information and detail on this topic, as requested by CSPD when we first developed the scope of work. One fact this study demonstrates is that answering this question is complicated, and requires looking at data a number of different ways, using different statistical models. CSPD encourages people with an interest in the detailed answer to this question to review all related information in the report. There is much more data in the report than what we will highlight here--what we are highlighting here are citywide results the experts tell us are the most valid.
Using the benchmarks the experts recommend, we learned that citywide, there were very minor or no racial/ethnic disparities in use of force for both Black and Hispanic individuals compared to White individuals. This finding was similar for pointing a firearm incidents involving Black individuals. For Hispanic individuals, the disparity in pointing a firearm was moderate.
Feedback
Give us feedback or ask questions about the 2022 Transparency Matters CSPD Use of Force report.