2018 Annual Report

Introduction & terms

FTN & UOF

FTN stands for “force tracking number”. It is the designation given to track the entirety of an interaction between NOPD and one or more individuals wherein force was used.

There were 441 FTNs issued in 2018. Those cases were analyzed for this report.

UOF stands for “use of force”. It represents a specific type of force used by a specific officer against a specific person. There were 1,108 UOFs in 2018.

A single FTN corresponds to one or more UOF. If Officer A and Officer B both use their hands against Individual C, the result would be one FTN, corresponding to two UOFs (one for each officer). The same pattern would apply if there were multiple types of force used or multiple individuals that force was used on.

This report will always clearly label whether FTN or UOF is being used for an analysis, but the onus is on the reader to remain vigilant of the distinction.

Race-Based Analysis

Occasionally we will show use of force data in relation to all races that NOPD reports: Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, and White. However, much of our analysis shows that black people (excluding other people of color) in New Orleans experience, by a large margin, the majority of force used by the NOPD. In most cases, it is clearest to present findings in only two race-based categories: black people, and non-black people (Native American, White, Hispanic, Asian, and all other races) than it would be to give data for each individual race.

It should be noted that black people + non-black people is always equal to 100%. When reading a graph that shows what percentage of force is used against black people, the reader may calculate the amount of force used against non-black people by subtracting from 100%.

Firearm and CEW / Taser Usage Terminology

NOPD and OIPM have discussed how to refer to the people that force is used on. Subjects, survivors, citizens, objects, victims, people, and several other options have been considered. Following a recommendation from NOPD, OIPM has decided to refer to this group as ‘individuals. It is our hope that this terminology adequately reflects the humanity of persons that force is used against.

Individuals

NOPD and OIPM have discussed how to refer to the people that force is used on. Subjects, survivors, citizens, objects, victims, people, and several other options have been considered. Following a recommendation from NOPD, OIPM has decided to refer to this group as ‘individuals. It is our hope that this terminology adequately reflects the humanity of persons that force is used against.

Section I: Comparison to Other Cities

Amount of Force Compared to Other Cities

FIGURE 1: NOPD FORCE (UOF) COMPARED TO OTHER CITIES

Every police department in USA has different policies about the use of force. Each department also has different tools, such as body-worn cameras, which can be used to more accurately capture force incidents. Furthermore, the cities in which every police department operates is also unique in its demographics and crime patterns.

Despite these known issues with comparing use of force statistics from other jurisdictions, the figure above helps give a generalized understanding of how New Orleans compares to other cities.

New Orleans is the smallest city being compared. The city populations (city only, not metro area) are as follows:

• Austin: 950,715
• D.C.: 702,455
• Indianapolis: 863,002
• New Orleans: 343,829

New Orleans uses the second most amount of force compared to other cities in terms of force per resident and force per arrest and the least relative force when looked at from a per-officer basis.