Across Canada, police services are increasingly publishing data: use-of-force incidents, traffic stops, demographic breakdowns, complaint statistics. The promise is clear — open data builds trust. But whether that promise is delivered depends on how the data is shared.
Dashboards Done Right
Accessible: Clear visuals and summaries that ordinary people can understand.
Interactive: Filters by neighbourhood, demographics, or time to see meaningful trends.
Actionable: Data tied to policy decisions and accountability measures.
Contextualized: Numbers explained with background, not left to raw interpretation.
Data Dumps Done Wrong
Opaque: Massive spreadsheets uploaded without explanation.
Outdated: Data posted months or years after the fact, losing relevance.
Incomplete: Selective release — what’s missing is often as telling as what’s shown.
Unusable: Formats that discourage real analysis or public understanding.
Canadian Context
Toronto & Ottawa: Publish race-based stop data but face criticism for complexity and delays.
RCMP: Provides annual reports but with limited disaggregation by region or community.
Community frustration: Advocates argue that “transparency” often means making data public without making it usable.
The Challenges
Trust vs spin: Services may use open data to highlight successes while burying failures.
Capacity gap: Many communities lack the tools or expertise to analyze raw datasets.
Privacy concerns: Balancing disaggregated data with confidentiality of individuals.
Consistency: No standard national framework for what data should be reported or how.
The Opportunities
Independent data portals: Managed by civilian agencies, not police services.
Standardized reporting: Uniform categories and metrics across Canada.
Community involvement: Let residents help define what data matters.
Real-time updates: Move beyond annual PDFs to living dashboards.
The Bigger Picture
Transparency is more than release — it’s usability. A polished dashboard can foster real dialogue. A raw dump can obscure as much as it reveals. The distinction determines whether open data builds trust or just ticks a box.
The Question
When police publish “open data,” are they opening doors to accountability — or just windows dressed with statistics?
Open Policing Data: Dashboards or Data Dumps?
The Transparency Push
Across Canada, police services are increasingly publishing data: use-of-force incidents, traffic stops, demographic breakdowns, complaint statistics. The promise is clear — open data builds trust. But whether that promise is delivered depends on how the data is shared.
Dashboards Done Right
Data Dumps Done Wrong
Canadian Context
The Challenges
The Opportunities
The Bigger Picture
Transparency is more than release — it’s usability. A polished dashboard can foster real dialogue. A raw dump can obscure as much as it reveals. The distinction determines whether open data builds trust or just ticks a box.
The Question
When police publish “open data,” are they opening doors to accountability — or just windows dressed with statistics?