6 ms·

All types of infractions. https://github.com/Police-Data-Accessibility-Project/Police-Data-Accessibility-Project/blob/master/SCRAPERS.md https://github.com/Poli

All types of infractions. https://github.com/Police-Data-Accessibility-Project/Police-Data-Accessibility-Project/blob/master/SCRAPERS.md https://github.com/Police-Data-Accessibility-Project/Police-...

giantg2 6y ago
I see the fields you're scraping. How do you use them to police the police? The fields don't seem like there would be much to catch police mistakes and misconduct. So maybe I'm not understanding.
- kristintynski 6y ago
  These are the fields we are currently scraping, but we ask devs to please just comment out lines for scraping officer names and badge numbers. This was simply out of caution as we finalize the nonprofit application. The intention is to have datasets of individual officer level behavior, especially around stop/arrest level data and arrestee level demographic data.
  - giantg2 6y ago
    I guess I don't see how this leads to officer discipline or convictions. As long as the officer had probable cause for the citation/arrest, then there is nothing legally wrong with the case, even if there are indications of discriminatory enforcement. Why not create a site that can have complaints against officers cataloged, similar to therobbingroom.com (and increase the popularity/use of this one too). Obviously people still need to file complaints with authorities. The problem is that the authorities don't self-investigate with integrity. I recently had an issue with a trooper knowingly holding a charge without probable cause against my wife which resulted in restrictions in our freedoms. His LT says it's not against the rules. He also backed up the trooper in his choice not to prosecute the other party for a similar offense. Nobody in the system cares. I reached out to a civil rights lawyer and he told me that the courts don't care about rights violations unless substantial monetary damages occurred. If the system won't enforce our rights, then do we even have any? If egregious violations are ignored, then how will trends help?
    - giantg2 6y ago
      Why downvote without a reply?
      - thinkingemote 6y ago
        On HN a user cannot downvote a reply to a comment they made. So they didn't downvote, someone else did. Also. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html see the second to last item.
        giantg2 6y ago
        I understand that. I don't like seeing anyone downvote without some sort of reply. How do I know what part they disagree on? Is it on a matter of fact or opinion, or do they just not like me?

giantg2 6y ago

I see the fields you're scraping. How do you use them to police the police? The fields don't seem like there would be much to catch police mistakes and misconduct. So maybe I'm not understanding.

kristintynski 6y ago
These are the fields we are currently scraping, but we ask devs to please just comment out lines for scraping officer names and badge numbers. This was simply out of caution as we finalize the nonprofit application. The intention is to have datasets of individual officer level behavior, especially around stop/arrest level data and arrestee level demographic data.
- giantg2 6y ago
  I guess I don't see how this leads to officer discipline or convictions. As long as the officer had probable cause for the citation/arrest, then there is nothing legally wrong with the case, even if there are indications of discriminatory enforcement. Why not create a site that can have complaints against officers cataloged, similar to therobbingroom.com (and increase the popularity/use of this one too). Obviously people still need to file complaints with authorities. The problem is that the authorities don't self-investigate with integrity. I recently had an issue with a trooper knowingly holding a charge without probable cause against my wife which resulted in restrictions in our freedoms. His LT says it's not against the rules. He also backed up the trooper in his choice not to prosecute the other party for a similar offense. Nobody in the system cares. I reached out to a civil rights lawyer and he told me that the courts don't care about rights violations unless substantial monetary damages occurred. If the system won't enforce our rights, then do we even have any? If egregious violations are ignored, then how will trends help?
  - giantg2 6y ago
    Why downvote without a reply?
    - thinkingemote 6y ago
      On HN a user cannot downvote a reply to a comment they made. So they didn't downvote, someone else did. Also. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html see the second to last item.
      - giantg2 6y ago
        I understand that. I don't like seeing anyone downvote without some sort of reply. How do I know what part they disagree on? Is it on a matter of fact or opinion, or do they just not like me?