Use of Force - Officer Information

ronpillar
Mar 14, 2023
2 min read

What information is gathered in the Use of force Officer segment?

We've previously discussed the Incident and Subject segments in the Use of Force series. This article will cover the information recorded in the Officer Segment.

The "Officer Segment" supplies the demographic information and characteristics of the officer (or officers) involved in the Use of Force Incident. This information includes demographic items such as:

Officer Gender
Officer Age
Officer Height
Officer Weight

The "Officer Segment" also includes characteristics such as:

Officer Years of Service
Officer Full/Part-Time Status
Officer Identifiable
Officer On-Duty Status
Officer Injury Type(s)

*Reminder - If you are a Pennsylvania agency, your department must collect Use of Force information, per Act 180 (Starting January 1st, 2023).

Get it right the first time!

In-Synch RMS includes intelligent data entry screens and validation for the 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.

Officer Data Elements

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

Officer Race?

Used to indicate the race and ethnicity of the law enforcement officer.
Mandatory
At least one Race/Ethnicity ID must be provided

Valid Races

A - Asian: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

B - Black or African-American: A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa.

I - American Indian or Alaskan Native: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Americas and maintaining cultural identification through tribal affiliations or community recognition.

P - Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands. The term "Native Hawaiian" does not include individuals who are native to the State of Hawaii by virtue of being born there.

However, the following Pacific Islander groups are included: Carolinian, Fijian, Kosraean, Melanesian, Micronesian, Northern Mariana Islander, Palauan, Papua New Guinean, Ponapean (Pohnpelan), Polynesian, Solomon Islander, Tahitian, Tarawa Islander, Tokelauan, Tongan, Trukese (Chuukese), and Yapese.

W - White: A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

U - Unknown/Not Reported

PA Removed Values

PENDING - Pending further investigation

Officer Gender?

Used to indicate the gender of the law enforcement officer.
Mandatory
Gender is mandatory, and only one value can be provided for an officer

Valid Genders

F - Female

M - Male

X - Gender Non-Binary (Not male, not female)

U - Unknown (Not reported)

PA Removed Values

PENDING - Pending further investigation

Officer Age?

Used to indicate the age of the officer.
Mandatory
The data value for age is an integer and should be the exact age of the officer
- Must be an integer between 18 and 99

Officer Height?

Used to indicate the height of the officer.
Mandatory
Officer height is collected in two parts; feet and inches
Feet
- Only one value can be provided for an officer
- Must be an integer between 0 and 10
Inch
- Only one value can be provided for an officer
- Must be an integer between 0 and 11

Officer Weight?

Used to indicate the weight of the officer in pounds.
Mandatory
Only one value can be provided for a subject
Must be an integer

Officer Years of Service?

Used to indicate the years of service the officer has as a law enforcement officer.
Mandatory
Must be an integer between 0 and 75
- Value must be less than the officer's age minus 18

Officer Full/Part Time?

Used to indicate if the officer is employed full or part-time. (Full-time is defined as 160 or more hours per month.)
Mandatory
Only one value can be provided for an officer

Valid Data Values

Yes

No

PA Removed Values

Pending - Pending further investigation

Unknown - Unknown and is unlikely to ever be known

Officer Identifiable?

Used to indicate if the officer was readily identifiable as an officer during the incident.
Mandatory
Only one value can be provided for an officer

Valid Data Values

Yes

No

PA Removed Values

Pending - Pending further investigation

Unknown - Unknown and is unlikely to ever be known

Officer On Duty?

Used to indicate if the officer was on duty at the time of the incident.
Mandatory
Only one value can be provided for an officer

Valid Data Values

Yes

No

PA Removed Values

Pending - Pending further investigation

Unknown - Unknown and is unlikely to ever be known

Officer Injured?

Used to indicate if the officer was injured (serious or minor) during the incident.
Mandatory
Only one value can be provided for an officer

Valid Data Values

Yes

No

PA Removed Values

Pending - Pending further investigation

Unknown - Unknown and is unlikely to ever be known

Officer Injury Types?

Used to indicate injuries incurred by the officer during the incident.
Conditional
Multiple values can be provided
- If "Officer Injured" has a value of ”Yes,” then a value must be provided