September 04, 2025

When it comes to knowing about previous examples of police misconduct, transparency is often an issue. Much of the information has been hidden from public view, keeping you and others from knowing both the full extent of the problem in a department and any issues with individual officers. This level of secrecy allowed police officers with a history of misconduct to get jobs in other departments. Now, there are steps to make this information public in a manner that would allow it to be searchable. If you are filing a police misconduct lawsuit, your attorney should have ready access to this data to help strengthen your case.

Publicly Available Did Not Always Mean Easily Accessible

The California Legislature previously mandated that records relating to police misconduct be made available to the public. This law only went part of the way in addressing a long-standing problem. The actual logistics of obtaining and making sense of this information required immense effort to piece together data from a multitude of sources. Requesters needed to make record requests from scores of individual agencies. Without putting in the necessary time, it would be impossible for the general public to obtain the information that they need.

Police departments throughout California have been accused of hiding vital information about misconduct for four decades. Even when the legislature released the law, it was exceedingly difficult to access it. Now, both individuals and advocacy organizations have ready access to it.

A New Searchable Database Solves the Accessibility Problem

A multidisciplinary team of journalists, data scientists, lawyers and civil liberties advocates has compiled a searchable database to more easily present this information to the public. There were numerous contributors to the project throughout California, including the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University. They used generative AI to scan records from over 12,000 police misconduct cases (consisting of over one million pages), along with developing a public-facing interface for their easy search. One of the key advantages of this database is that it is searchable by type of police misconduct.

There Are Numerous Users Who Can Benefit from this Information

Police departments should be able to search through the database to learn more about a candidate’s history and whether there are any misconduct allegations against them. In the past, police officers were able to escape their prior record because new departments did not have access to previously filed complaints. A police department hiring an officer should do their due diligence to check whether the candidate has a disciplinary history and whether there have been any allegations of misconduct made against them.

Advocacy organizations also stand to benefit from having easier access to this information. They may be able to target an individual department that has a high number of complaints without having to file a public records request. They would be better able to focus their reform efforts on police departments that have significant problems with misconduct. Further, they can address particular types of misconduct based on the information that they find.

How the New Database Can Help Police Misconduct Victims

For you, as a victim of police misconduct, or as the family of one, having access to this information can help you in both your efforts to hold the police department accountable and to fight for necessary reforms. In some cases, it can help to show that there is a pattern of misconduct in the agency itself. Police misconduct cases rest not only on the individual facts of the incident, but also on patterns of conduct in the individual department. Not only can you show that there is a systemic failure in the individual department, but having access to overall department-wide data may serve to strengthen your own allegations and give them credibility. You may even be able to broaden your lawsuit to include the municipality in addition to the police department when you can show that they have tolerated and done nothing about a pervasive pattern of misconduct.

In addition to obtaining monetary compensation for the injuries you suffered from police misconduct, being able to show a broad pattern of illegal actions could also lead to potential reform. There may be additional pressure on the department, both from the public and the government entity that funds them.

About the Helbraun Law Firm

The Helbraun Law Firm has been fighting for justice on behalf of victims of police misconduct for 35 years. We are a recognized thought leader in the field, as Attorney David Helbraun is a frequently interviewed and quoted authority on police brutality cases. Note that we are not currently accepting new police misconduct cases.

David M. Helbraun

Attorney David M. Helbraun at the Helbruan Law Firm in San Francisco emphasize litigation and conflict resolution in the areas of legal malpractice, civil rights & police misconduct and insurance & tort litigation.