Cambridge Police Department’s Procedural Justice Dashboard Marks One Year Since Launch

Cambridge Police Department’s Procedural Justice Dashboard Marks One Year Since Launch.

The Cambridge Police Department (CPD) marked one year since the launch of its publicly accessible arrest, summons, citation, and use of force Procedural Justice Dashboard. The data on the Procedural Justice Dashboard is designed to better serve the community by increasing the department’s transparency and providing the public with deeper insights into Cambridge Police officer interactions with the public.  

Between August 15, 2023, and August 15, 2024, there were 1,763 views from 1,143 users who spent about a minute viewing the information on average. During the first year, after receiving public feedback, CPD added a new data category called “Investigative Motor Vehicle Searches.” This category is a vehicle search without a warrant when the officer has consent from the operator or probable cause to believe the vehicle has contraband.

The Procedural Justice Dashboard includes the following information and features that allow users to: 

• Review enhanced data on CPD-related arrests, citations, and summons.
• Filter arrest, citation, and summons data by race, ethnicity, gender, neighborhood, and time. 
• Evaluate data beginning in 2010 through the present month. 
• Review the department’s latest annual report on use-of-force. 
• Read an overview from Commissioner Christine Elow. 
• Read detailed explanations associated with each data set. 
• Download CPD guidelines, policies, and reports associated with each data set. 
• Review the terms and definitions featured in the dashboard. 
• Share feedback to improve the dashboard.

Overview of the Data
Preliminary analysis from the new dashboard indicates that arrests have dramatically declined since 2010. For example, there were 676 arrests in 2023 compared to 1,450 arrests in 2010. Meanwhile, the number of summonses – in which criminal charges are sought against a suspect in a crime by either a summons to appear at court for a hearing or arraignment or an arrest warrant – has generally increased since data was first captured in 2010 via the department’s records management system. In fact, there have been more summons issued by the department than arrests made every year since 2019, which reflects the department’s recognition that arrests may not always serve as the best option, particularly with minor offenses that allow greater discretion (e.g. shoplifting). 

Partnership with the Center for Policing Equity
Cambridge Police Department joined Center for Policing Equity’s (CPE) National Justice Database project in April of 2023. CPD shared data with CPE to receive analyses intended to support community and law enforcement collaboration on data-informed efforts to advance equitable outcomes in policing and public safety. This assessment analyzes use of force data from January 1, 2019 - December 6, 2022, vehicle stop data from January 1, 2019 - December 13, 2022, pedestrian stop data from January 1, 2019 - September 6, 2022, and calls for service and officer-initiated activity data from January 1, 2019 - December 6, 2022. CPE plans to release the full assessment by January of 2025.

CPE will also play a valuable role in engaging community stakeholders in any change-making processes and help provide further context for the data featured on the dashboard. The City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Police Department will not incur any costs associated with this strategic relationship agreement.

“The investment made into the Procedural Justice Dashboard is one of the many important strategic priorities we have recently made to drive real, long-lasting change to policing in Cambridge,” said Police Commissioner Christine Elow. “This is another step in our continued journey as an innovative police department.”

"Centering community is an important step in bringing the community and police together in partnership,” said Dr. Yolanda N. Smith, Senior Implementation Strategist for the Center for Policing Equity. “It is through this collaboration that agencies can best protect and serve those they are responsible for keeping safe. Since working with Commissioner Elow, the City of Cambridge, and the Cambridge Police Department, Commissioner Elow has demonstrated her commitment to equity and improving policing outcomes for the Cambridge community by leading the charge of 21st Century Policing through transparency and accountability."

The dashboard is updated quarterly, pulling in the previous three months of vetted data. The long-term goal is for the dashboard to evolve into a more dynamic and robust website with additional features, data, and information.

Feedback can be submitted by any users by selecting the “Feedback” tab on the top of the dashboard.