Washington’s police use-of-force dashboard delivers transparency to the public

The Attorney General's Office held a "Data, Transparency, and Police Use of Force" community forum in Everett Thursday evening to advance the office's transparency work, partnership with local law enforcement, and commitment to community engagement.

The public safety event featured a presentation on the Washington State Data Exchange for Public Safety (WADEPS), which makes police use-of-force data available to everyone in the state. The evening also featured a panel discussion with community members and law enforcement, as well as a question-and-answer period with members of the public.

"Transparency and access to information are essential to building trust. This data tool empowers the public, policymakers, and law enforcement agencies to better understand interactions between the police and the community and make informed decisions about policing practices," Brown said. "Our partnership with law enforcement agencies across the state is key to delivering this vital information to Washingtonians."

"Public data dashboards provide a much-needed window into the trends and contributing factors surrounding the use of force by police. As more and more data is added, WADEPS has the potential to become a powerful tool that the public, policymakers, and law enforcement agencies can use collectively to improve transparency and affect positive outcomes for public safety in Washington state," said David Makin, a criminal justice researcher at Washington State University and program director for WADEPS.

"Transparency in policing is the foundation upon which public trust is built. By providing a comprehensive, streamlined, and publicly available database, WADEPs serves to ensure efficient accessibility to use-of-force data and improves transparency between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve," said Chief Robert Goetz, Everett Police Department. "Moving forward, WADEPs will help agencies across the state make evidence-based policy decisions and continue to prioritize safety for all."

"Trust has to be earned through a process people can examine. I appreciate WADEPS and everyone building it. We strengthen that investment by making sure every required incident is reported, identifying where information came from, and checking it against other evidence," said Nickeia Hunter, Washington Coalition for Police Accountability. "The answer to skepticism is verification: show what is known, what remains disputed, what is missing, and who is responsible for resolving it."

Since WADEPS went live in September 2025, the dashboard has recorded more than 4 million calls for service to law enforcement agencies across the state and more than 1,800 reportable uses of force. Agencies have up to 30 days after an incident to submit the required data to WADEPS. Washington State University developed WADEPS for the Attorney General's Office and continues to manage it, standardizing reporting across hundreds of law enforcement agencies to allow the public to easily compare police use of force across the state.

Visitors to the dashboard can examine police rates of force across different types of calls for service, such as an assault or a mental health call. WADEPS allows users to easily compare data from different regions, including how many calls each law enforcement agency receives, how often they use force, and how often a person is injured because of that force.

The Legislature passed a bill with bipartisan support in 2021 to create WADEPS. Lawmakers cited the need to collect and present data to the public to build community trust and improve transparency. WADEPS was developed through significant collaboration with law enforcement, community leaders, and criminal justice researchers.

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