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Use of Force - Incident Information

  • Writer: ronpillar
    ronpillar
  • Jan 17, 2023
  • 3 min read

ree

There are certainly a lot of "buzz-words" surrounding Use of Force Reporting. Many states have implemented mandatory data collection starting in 2023. If you are a Pennsylvania agency, your department must collect Use of Force information, per Act 180.



Where do I start?

Don't worry; you don’t have to navigate this maze alone. We’re here to help!


Each incident starts with three (3) Use of Force Qualification questions:

  1. In this incident, did a person die due to law enforcement use of force?

  2. In this incident, did a person sustain serious bodily injury/injuries due to law enforcement use of force?

  3. In this incident, did an officer in your department discharge their firearm at or in the direction of a person, that otherwise did not result in death or serious bodily injury?

If you answer "NO" to these questions, good news, no additional information is required!


However, additional data elements are required if you answer "YES" to any of these questions.



What are the additional data Elements?

Now that we've discussed the basics, let’s take a look at some of the additional Incident data elements collected in Pennsylvania Use of Force Reporting:


Agency Case Number?

  • Used to indicate the agency’s case number for the Use-of-Force incident

  • Mandatory

  • Can only contain letters, numbers, and hyphens (-)

  • The maximum length supported is twenty (20) characters


Incident Date?

  • Used to indicate the date the Use-of-Force incident occurred.

  • Mandatory

  • Must be in MM/DD/YYYY format

  • Must be a valid date in or after the year 2021


Incident Time (Hours/Minutes)?

  • Used to indicate the hour/minutes reflecting the best estimate of when the interaction between law enforcement and the subject occurred.

  • Mandatory

  • Hour

    • The value is numeric from 0 – 23

    • No special characters allowed

  • Minutes

    • The value is numeric from 0 – 59

    • No special characters allowed


Location Type?

  • Used to indicate the type of location/premises where the Use-of-Force incident took place.

  • Mandatory

  • Only one location type can be provided

  • Must be a valid Location Type

Location Types

  • Air/Bus/Train Terminal

  • Bank/Savings and Loan

  • Bar/Nightclub

  • Church/Synagogue/Temple/Mosque

  • Commercial/Office Building

  • Construction Site

  • Convenience Store

  • Department/Discount Store

  • Drug Store/Doctor’s Office/Hospital

  • Field/Woods

  • Government/Public Building

  • Grocery/Supermarket

  • Highway/Road/Alley/Street/Sidewalk

  • Hotel/Motel/Etc.

  • Jail/Prison/Penitentiary/Corrections Facility

  • Lake/Waterway/Beach

  • Liquor Store

  • Parking/Drop Lot/Garage

  • Rental Storage Facility

  • Residence/Home

  • Restaurant

  • Service/Gas Station

  • Specialty Store

  • Other

  • Abandoned/Condemned Structure

  • Amusement Park

  • Arena/Stadium/Fairgrounds/Coliseum

  • ATM (Automated Teller Machine) Separate from Bank

  • Auto Dealership New/Used

  • Camp/Campground

  • Daycare Facility

  • Dock/Wharf/Freight/Modal Terminal

  • Farm Facility

  • Gambling Facility/Casino/Race Track

  • Industrial Site

  • Military Installation

  • Park/Playground

  • Rest Area

  • School–College/University

  • School–Elementary/Secondary

  • Shelter–Mission/Homeless

  • Shopping Mall

  • Tribal Lands

  • Community Center

PA Removed Values

  • PENDING - Pending further investigation

  • UNKNOWN - Unknown and is unlikely ever to be known

Initial Contact?

  • Used to indicate the reason behind the initial contact between the Law Enforcement Officer and the subject.

  • Mandatory

  • Only one initial contact type can be provided

  • Must be a valid Reason for Contact Type

Initial Contact Types

  • Service of a court order

  • Response to unlawful or suspicious activity

  • Mass Demonstration

  • Follow up investigation

  • Medical, mental health, or welfare assistance

  • Other

  • Routine patrol other than a traffic stop

  • Traffic Stop

  • Warrant Service

PA Removed Values

  • PENDING - Pending further investigation

  • UNKNOWN - Unknown and is unlikely ever to be known

Total Officers Involved?

  • Used to indicate the total number of officers from all responding agencies who used force during the incident

  • Mandatory

  • The minimum value of 1

  • The maximum value of 99


Total Number of Other Agencies?

  • Used to indicate the total number of other responding agencies whose officer(s) used force during the incident

  • Mandatory

  • Value is a number from 0-98


Other Agencies Involved?

  • Used to identify all other agencies involved in the incident

  • Conditional

    • Required if the "Total Number of Other Agencies" is greater than zero (0)

      • If "Other Agencies Involved" is provided, both the Agency ORI and Agency Case Number must be provided for each agency

Ambush Incident?

  • Used to indicate if the incident involved an ambush of a law enforcement official

  • Mandatory

  • Only one value can be provided for an incident

  • Value is YES or NO

PA Removed Values

  • PENDING - Pending further investigation

  • UNKNOWN - Unknown and is unlikely ever to be known

Did the Officer Approach?

  • Used to indicate if the law enforcement official approached the subject

  • Mandatory

  • Only one value can be provided for an incident

  • Value is YES or NO

PA Removed Values

  • PENDING - Pending further investigation

  • UNKNOWN - Unknown and is unlikely ever to be known

Senior Officer Present?

  • Used to indicate if a supervisor or senior officer (acting in a similar capacity) was present or consulted before force was used during the incident

  • Mandatory

  • Only one value can be provided for an incident

  • Value is YES or NO

PA Removed Values

  • PENDING - Pending further investigation

  • UNKNOWN - Unknown and is unlikely ever to be known

UCR Offenses (1-3)?

  • If the use of force was in response to a report or observation of “unlawful or suspicious activity,” the most serious observed offense(s) committed by the subject(s) prior to (or at the time of) the incident is indicated in the offense 1, offense 2, and offense 3 fields

  • Conditional

    • The codes used are the offense designations specified by the FBI's UCR program.

    • Follow the UCR Summary Hierarchy Rule

    • If less than three (3) offenses are reported, select "None" for the remaining entries

UCR Offense Types

  • 09A - Homicide Offenses - Murder & Non Negligent Manslaughter

  • 09B - Homicide Offenses - Negligent Manslaughter

  • 09C - Homicide Offenses - Justifiable Homicide

  • 100 - Kidnapping/Abduction

  • 11A - Sex Offenses – Rape

  • 11B - Sex Offenses – Sodomy

  • 11C - Sex Offenses - Sexual Assault With An Object

  • 11D - Sex Offenses – Fondling

  • 120 - Robbery

  • 13A - Assault Offenses - Aggravated Assault

  • 13B - Assault Offenses - Simple Assault

  • 13C - Assault Offenses – Intimidation

  • 200 - Arson

  • 210 - Extortion/Blackmail

  • 220 - Burglary/Breaking & Entering

  • 23A - Larceny/Theft Offenses - Pocket-picking

  • 23B - Larceny/Theft Offenses - Purse-snatching

  • 23C - Larceny/Theft Offenses – Shoplifting

  • 23D - Larceny/Theft Offenses - Theft From Building

  • 23E - Larceny/Theft Offenses - Theft From Coin-Operated Machine or Device

  • 23F - Larceny/Theft Offenses - Theft From Motor Vehicle

  • 23G - Larceny/Theft Offenses - Theft of Motor Vehicle Parts or Accessories

  • 23H - Larceny/Theft Offenses - All Other Larceny

  • 240 - Motor Vehicle Theft

  • 250 - Counterfeiting/Forgery

  • 26A - Fraud Offenses - False Pretenses/Swindle/Confidence Game

  • 26B - Fraud Offenses - Credit Card/Automated Teller Machine Fraud

  • 26C - Fraud Offenses – Impersonation

  • 26D - Fraud Offenses - Welfare Fraud

  • 26E - Fraud Offenses - Wire Fraud

  • 26F - Fraud Offenses - Identity Theft

  • 26G - Fraud Offenses - Hacking/Computer Invasion

  • 270 - Embezzlement

  • 280 - Stolen Property Offenses

  • 290 - Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property

  • 35A - Drug/Narcotic Violations

  • 35B - Drug Equipment Violations

  • 36A - Sex Offenses – Incest

  • 36B - Sex Offenses - Statutory Rape

  • 370 - Pornography/Obscene Material

  • 39A - Gambling Offenses - Betting/Wagering

  • 39B - Gambling Offenses - Operating/Promoting/Assisting Gambling

  • 39C - Gambling Offenses - Gambling Equipment Violation

  • 39D - Gambling Offenses - Sports Tampering

  • 40A - Prostitution Offenses – Prostitution

  • 40B - Prostitution Offenses - Assisting or Promoting Prostitution

  • 40C - Prostitution Offenses - Purchasing Prostitution

  • 510 - Bribery

  • 520 - Weapon Law Violations

  • 64A - Human Trafficking, Commercial Sex Acts

  • 64B - Human Trafficking, Involuntary Servitude

  • 720 - Animal Cruelty

  • 90A - Bad Checks

  • 90B - Curfew/Loitering/Vagrancy Violations

  • 90C - Disorderly Conduct

  • 90D - Driving Under the Influence

  • 90E - Drunkenness

  • 90F - Family Offenses, Nonviolent

  • 90G - Liquor Law Violations

  • 90H - Peeping Tom

  • 90J - Trespass of Real Property

  • 90Z - All Other Offenses


Get it right the first time!

In-Synch RMS includes intelligent data entry screens and validation for Use of Force data elements, ensuring your personnel enters data correctly. Check out the excerpt from our training video to see it in action.


Download the resources from the video.


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