Stanford Database Makes Police Force Policies Searchable

Five years after George Floyd's murder sparked national calls for police reform, a Stanford University project is finally making those reforms visible to everyone.

The Stanford Center for Racial Justice just launched the Use of Force Policy Explorer, the first searchable database that compares police force regulations across America's 100 largest cities. For the first time, community members can see at a glance whether their local police department requires de-escalation, restricts chokeholds, or limits deadly force to last-resort situations.

"Use of force policies shape some of the most consequential encounters between the state and the public," said Ralph Richard Banks, faculty director of the center. "Yet those rules have typically been buried in department manuals and are difficult for policymakers to evaluate."

The database draws from a massive research effort that analyzed 11,000 pages of policy documents and 2,200 policy provisions. The resulting report, "Police Use of Force Policies Across America," is believed to be the largest empirical study of American use of force regulations to date.

The findings reveal both progress and troubling gaps. Ninety-two departments now ban chokeholds, up from just 22 a decade ago. Ninety-three departments require officers to intervene when they witness misconduct, compared to only 29 in 2015.

But the study also exposes stark inconsistencies. Twenty departments still don't require officers to de-escalate before using force. Some cities, including Chesapeake, Virginia, and Lincoln, Nebraska, still permit officers to draw firearms during routine encounters even when no immediate threat exists.

Only 54 departments clearly designate deadly force as a last resort. Just 41 restrict pepper spray use on handcuffed individuals.

The Ripple Effect

The database's real power lies in its accessibility. Journalists covering police accountability can quickly compare policies across cities. Policymakers drafting regulations can benchmark against peer departments. Community members seeking transparency finally have concrete tools to evaluate whether local rules reflect their values.

Dan Sutton, the center's director of justice and safety, said seeing policies side by side reveals important patterns. "Post-2020 reform has been real, but uneven and incomplete," he noted.

The project includes a third component: a comprehensive model policy that departments can adapt to their own contexts. Rather than prescribing one-size-fits-all solutions, the framework translates research findings into practical guidance.

Center researchers plan to continue adding departments to the database, expanding transparency beyond the largest cities to communities nationwide.