A groundbreaking searchable database containing thousands of previously secret California police misconduct and use-of-force records became publicly available on Monday, marking a significant milestone in police transparency and accountability efforts. The Police Records Access Project database, developed over seven years by journalists, activists, and data scientists, provides access to approximately 1.5 million pages of documents covering nearly 12,000 cases from more than 400 government agencies across the state.

Background & Development

The database project has its roots in California's legislative efforts to increase police transparency. In 2018, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 1421, known as the "Right to Know" Act, which reversed decades of secrecy by unsealing police records involving use of serious force or findings of officer dishonesty or sexual assault. A follow-up law in 2021, SB 16, expanded access to include records involving findings of police discrimination, excessive force, wrongful arrests, or wrongful searches.

However, until now, these records were only available through individual requests to specific agencies, creating significant barriers for researchers, journalists, and the public. The collaborative effort to create a centralized database began shortly after the 2018 law took effect, bringing together more than 30 news outlets, academic institutions, and civil rights organizations.

The database was developed by the Berkeley Institute for Data Science, UC Berkeley's Investigative Reporting Program, and Stanford University's Big Local News project, with support from the ACLU and numerous other academic and civil society organizations. Funding came from the state of California ($6.7 million allocated by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2023), the Sony Foundation, and Jay-Z's entertainment company Roc Nation.

The launch of California's database comes at a particularly significant moment for police accountability efforts nationwide. In February 2025, the Trump administration shut down the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, which had tracked federal police officer misconduct from 2018 to 2023. The federal database was originally proposed by Trump in 2020 following George Floyd's killing but didn't launch until President Biden signed an executive order in 2022.

When Trump revoked Biden's executive order on his first day back in office, the database was decommissioned, with the site now reading that it is "no longer active." The White House defended the shutdown, calling the federal database "full of woke, anti-police concepts that make communities less safe," according to statements made to the Washington Post.

Stakeholder Views

The database's release has generated diverse reactions from various stakeholders, highlighting the complex landscape of police accountability and transparency efforts.

Accountability Advocates have welcomed the database as a crucial tool for justice and healing. Tiffany Bailey of the ACLU of Southern California emphasized the database's importance for families seeking justice, stating that "families who have lost loved ones in California will now have direct access to the information they need to seek meaningful accountability that has too often been denied."

Legal Community representatives see the database as essential for ensuring fair trials and proper legal proceedings. Jumana Musa of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers highlighted the database's utility, explaining her organization would use it "to impeach officers on the stand or to be able to properly defend the client, with full knowledge of who they're dealing with." She also emphasized that law enforcement agencies should use the database to avoid hiring officers with histories of misconduct.

Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project, called the database "critical for all of the stakeholders in the criminal legal system," including public defenders, prosecutors, and police departments themselves.

Academic Researchers are excited about the database's potential for advancing criminal justice research. Data scientist Tarak Shah, who helped manage the project, noted that "this kind of data is necessary for even basic forms of independent oversight." He expressed enthusiasm about the database's potential to contribute to studies on how police killings are classified by different authorities and the intersection of mental health with law enforcement encounters.

The project has already produced significant investigative reporting that has contributed to police reform legislation in California, demonstrating the practical value of transparency initiatives in driving policy change.

National Implications

While California expands public access to police misconduct records, other states are moving in the opposite direction, highlighting a growing national divide on police accountability and transparency. In July 2025, Texas lawmakers considered Senate Bill 14, which would require law enforcement agencies statewide to maintain confidential "G files" containing records of internal misconduct investigations that didn't result in disciplinary action.

The proposed Texas legislation would shield these records from public access, including cases where officers resign while under investigation. Critics of the Texas bill, including police reform activists, warn that it could hide patterns of abuse and shield bad actors from accountability. The legislation would particularly impact smaller departments that currently don't maintain such confidential files, potentially making misconduct investigations permanently sealed if officers resign during the process.

Bill proponents, including law enforcement groups, argue that officers deserve protection from public scrutiny when investigations find no policy violations. This contrasts sharply with California's approach of centralizing and publicizing misconduct records.

The database represents the first of its kind in the nation and has several significant implications for various constituencies:

Federal vs. State Accountability: With the federal government's National Law Enforcement Accountability Database shut down in February 2025, California's database becomes even more crucial as a transparency tool, demonstrating how state-level initiatives are filling gaps left by federal policy reversals on police accountability.

Legal Impact: Defense attorneys now have unprecedented access to information about officer credibility and past misconduct, potentially affecting the outcomes of criminal cases where officer testimony is crucial.

Hiring Practices: Law enforcement agencies can now more effectively screen potential hires to avoid employing officers with documented histories of misconduct in other jurisdictions.

Conclusion

The launch of California's police misconduct database represents a watershed moment in police accountability and government transparency. By making previously secret records publicly searchable, the database promises to serve multiple constituencies – from grieving families seeking answers to researchers studying policing patterns to defense attorneys ensuring fair trials.

The seven-year collaborative effort demonstrates how sustained cooperation between journalists, academics, civil rights organizations, and state government can overcome traditional barriers to public information access. As new documents continue to be added and the database evolves, it may serve as a model for similar transparency initiatives in other states.

However, the database's ultimate impact will depend on how effectively it is used by its intended audiences and whether it leads to meaningful reforms in police practices and accountability measures. For families like Cephus Johnson's, who have long fought for transparency after losing loved ones to police violence, the database represents both a tool for healing and a step toward the systemic accountability they have long sought.