It may not be a well-known statistic that only 27 percent of police departments in the United States openly provide the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with information about their use-of-force cases.
So it is reassuring to know that not only is New College’s Campus Police Department (CPD) among the 27 percent that believes in total transparency, but also that its report reads “zero cases.”
The CPD—which serves and protects New College, the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and the surrounding community—is led by Chief Michael Kessie, who encourages honest practices in his staff.
“I fully support transparency in all areas of law enforcement where it is allowed,” Kessie said. “The exceptions would be to protect the identity of a victim/survivor and an ongoing criminal investigation. The CPD has always been transparent and will continue to be.”
A recent article in Florida Today revealed that only 90 of the 387-plus law enforcement agencies in Florida (less than one in four) submit their data to the FBI’s national database on police use of force. The CPD is part of that small percentage. The Department’s commitment involves maintaining a quick turnaround time and a simple process for completing police request reports.
But what do most of us really know about the process for keeping public records? How many of us know that accessing public records is the product of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which was passed in the United States in 1967 with the intention of providing transparency to the American people (regarding anything touched by government workers)?
According to The Washington Post, the FBI has been consistently requesting that U.S police departments report their use-of-force cases, but obtaining the data has not been an easy task. The CPD, however, has been exceedingly compliant.
“In order to maintain a positive relationship with our community, the police must be open and willing to answer questions from the public and show evidence/statistics, which backs up the police department’s claims,” Kessie said. “If the public perceives the police are hiding something, trust can be lost or diminished. I also think that, when the police provide clear and concise statistics, and are willing to discuss and explain the results, the public should at least accept those results as part of the discussion, not necessarily agree with them.”
In order to help with public records, the CPD has been actively participating in the FBI’s data collection mission since 2019.
“The CPD began reporting use of force to the FBI in January 2019 when the reporting portal opened here,” Kessie said. “In September 2020, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) took over the use-of-force reporting for Florida law enforcement, so we have been reporting to FDLE since then. We comply with all required reporting to the FBI, the FDLE, the DOE and other agencies. This reflects our transparency and standing in the law enforcement community as a forward-thinking, progressive police department.”
To learn more about the CPD’s transparency and policies, visit ncf.edu/police/transparency-page.
To see how the CPD has participated in use-of-force data collection, visit the links below:
For general information on the CPD, call 941-487-4210 or visit ncf.edu/police.
Yasi Bahmanabadi is an intern in the Office of Communications & Marketing.