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Type Name Latest commit message Commit time atlanta_ga initial commit Feb 22, 2021 baltimore_md initial commit Feb 22, 2021 baton_rouge_la initial commit Feb 22, 2021 boston_ma initial commit Feb 22, 2021 cambridge_ma initial commit Feb 22, 2021 charleston_sc initial commit Feb 22, 2021 chicago_il initial commit Feb 22, 2021 cincinnati_oh initial commit Feb 22, 2021 cleveland_oh initial commit Feb 22, 2021 columbia_sc initial commit Feb 22, 2021 detroit_mi initial commit Feb 22, 2021 fort_lauderdale_fl initial commit Feb 22, 2021 indianapolis_in initial commit Feb 22, 2021 little_rock_ar initial commit Feb 22, 2021 los_angeles_ca initial commit Feb 22, 2021 memphis_tn initial commit Feb 22, 2021 miami_fl initial commit Feb 22, 2021 milwaukee_wi initial commit Feb 22, 2021 new_orleans_la initial commit Feb 22, 2021 new_york_ny initial commit Feb 22, 2021 north_charleston_sc initial commit Feb 22, 2021 orlando_fl initial commit Feb 22, 2021 paterson_nj initial commit Feb 22, 2021 philadelphia_pa initial commit Feb 22, 2021 richmond_va initial commit Feb 22, 2021 roanoke_va initial commit Feb 22, 2021 san_francisco_ca initial commit Feb 22, 2021 springfield_ma initial commit Feb 22, 2021 st_louis_mo initial commit Feb 22, 2021 unusable initial commit Feb 22, 2021 washington_dc initial commit Feb 22, 2021 waterbury_ct initial commit Feb 22, 2021 .gitignore initial commit Feb 22, 2021 README.md initial commit Feb 22, 2021 setup.R initial commit Feb 22, 2021 View code README.md Police misconduct settlements This repo contains the data behind the story Police Misconduct Costs Cities Millions Every Year, But That's Where The Accountability Ends. Words of caution As we describe in an accompanying article, this data has major issues. It constitutes our best guess at the amount of money that was paid out as settlements for police misconduct from 2010-19 (or for the range otherwise provided), but different cities have different ways of collecting, storing and categorizing such settlements. As a result, this data should not be compared across cities. We have no way of knowing (or checking) whether the kinds of misconduct this covers are comparable across cities. (For example, city officials in Boston likely interpreted our request more narrowly than those in New York City.) Descriptions of the types of misconduct are included where provided, but are also not comparable across cities. For this reason, while we are making all the data we obtained available, we are not providing it in an easy-to-use, collated data set. This is because we don't want you to use it this way! Moreover, while records within the same city might be more comparable across time, this is also not encouraged. Data storage may have changed in this time period, as have the humans who entered the information into it, and much of the information entered is subject to human categorization based on judgement calls that cannot be assumed to have stayed constant over time. And even if the data collection had stayed the same for the entire period, other factors (such as whether cities are likely to settle in response to police misconduct and if so, for how much) may have changed such that the settlements themselves are a poor measure of police misconduct. For these reasons, we advise extreme caution when comparing this data across time and within a city. Folder structure Each city folder contains: * an R script that cleans the data * an original/ folder that contains original data as provided by the city. * an intermediate/ folder - if we did any manual data cleaning. This folder contains data after the manual data cleaning step (e.g. an xlsx sheet into which data from a pdf was copied). * a final/ folder that contains data output of the cleaning script, with columns described by the data dictionary below. Data dictionary Variable name Definition incident_date Date on which incident took place incident_year Pulled from filed_year filed_date Date claim or lawsuit was filed filed_year Pulled from filed_date closed_date Date at which settlement was reached OR paid (depending on what was provided) calendar_year Pulled from settlement date or closed_date city City name state State abbreviation amount_awarded Amount awarded to claimant in the settlement other_expenses Additional expenses, such as legal fees (e.g. in Charleston, North Charleston), when available total_incurred Total expenses: amount_awarded + other_expenses collection Whether money was collected? Case status as of the date the data was case_outcome collected, e.g. whether a case was settled, went to jury, or is still pending docket_number Case docket number, when available claim_number Claim number, when available court Court in which the settlement was reached, when available plaintiff_name Name of plaintiff/claimant matter_name Case name (generally of the form "Plaintiff v Defendant") plaintiff_attorney Legal representation of plaintiff location Location at which the incident happened, when available Description of allegations -- sometimes summary_allegations aggregated into categories, sometimes very detailed. We retained as much detail as was available. Separated by ";" claim_or_lawsuit Indicator of whether the entry was a claim or a lawsuit, when available defendant Name of defendant(s), when available. Sometimes a list of police officers was provided separately. FOIA text This is the text of the FOIA request we sent to each city: Dear Records Officer, Pursuant to all laws and traditions governing the release of public records in your jurisdiction, I am requesting records related to any and all civil lawsuits brought forth against the [CITY] Police Department or [CITY] PD law enforcement officials that resulted in a monetary legal settlement between the period of January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2019. Specifically, I am requesting any and all records concerning each legal settlement, including: + Name(s) of plaintiff(s) + Name(s) of officer(s) involved + Name of court and docket number + Date of incident at issue + Location of incident at issue + Date lawsuit filed + Date lawsuit resolved + Type of misconduct + Summary of allegations + Settlement amount + Name of plaintiff's attorney (or pro se status if plaintiff represented him/herself) Please provide the records in an electronic spreadsheet. In addition, I request you send along any data dictionaries that accompany these records. Please waive any applicable fees. I am a representative of the news media through FiveThirtyEight and The Marshall Project. Release of this information is in the public interest because it will help the public understand how taxpayer dollars are used to compensate victims of police misconduct. If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions and denials by reference to specific exemptions of the laws and traditions in your state. I also request that you release all segregable portions of the otherwise exempt material. I reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to deny any waiver of fees. As I am making this request as a journalist and this information is of timely value, I would appreciate your communication through telephone or email if you have any questions regarding this request. I can be reached by email at [email] and by phone at [phone]. Thank you for your assistance. List of cities FOIA'd and what happened with each City Outcome Time period Atlanta, GA Received data 2015-2020 Baltimore, MD Received data that was not responsive to 2015-2020 FOIA Baton Rouge, LA Received data 2010-2019 Birmingham, AL Did not receive data Boston, MA Received data 2010-2019 Bridgeport, CT Did not receive data Buffalo, NY Did not receive data Cambridge, MA Received data 2010-2019 Charleston, SC Received data 2010-2019 Chattanooga, TN Did not receive data Chicago, IL Received data 2010-2019 Cincinnati, OH Received data 2010-2020 Cleveland, OH Received data 2010-2020 Columbia, SC Received data 2010-2019 Dayton, OH Did not receive data Detroit, MI Received data 2010-2019 Elizabeth, NJ Did not receive data Fort Lauderdale, Received data 2011-2019 FL Hartford, CT Received data, unusable Indianapolis, IN Received data 2010-2019 Jersey City, NJ Received data, unusable Kansas City, MO Received data, unusable Little Rock, AR Received data 2010-2019 Los Angeles, CA Received data 2010-2019 Memphis, TN Received data 2013-2019 Miami, FL Received data 2010-2020 Milwaukee, WI Received data 2010-2019 New Haven, CT Did not receive data New Orleans, LA Received data 2010-2019 New York City, NY Received data 2010-2019 Newark, NJ Did not receive data Norfolk, VA Did not receive data North Charleston, Received data 2010-2019 SC Orlando, FL Received data 2010-2018 Paterson, NJ Received data 2010-2019 Philadelphia, PA Received data 2009-2019 Pittsburgh, PA Did not receive data Richmond, VA Received data 2010-2019 Roanoke, VA Received data 2010-2019 Rochester, NY Did not receive data San Francisco, CA Received data 2010-2019 Shreveport, LA Received data, unusable Springfield, MA Received data 2006-2020 St Louis, MO Received data 2015-2019 Syracuse, NY Did not receive data Tuscaloosa, AL Did not receive data Washington, DC Received data 2010-2019 Waterbury, CT Received data 2011-2019 West Palm Beach, Did not receive data FL Yonkers, NY Did not receive data About A FiveThirtyEight/The Marshall Project effort to collect comprehensive data on police misconduct settlements from 2010-19. fivethirtyeight.com/features/ police-misconduct-costs-cities-millions-every-year-but-thats-where-the-accountability-ends / Topics data Resources Readme Languages * R 100.0% * (c) 2021 GitHub, Inc. * Terms * Privacy * Security * Status * Docs * Contact GitHub * Pricing * API * Training * Blog * About You can't perform that action at this time. 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