Nov DPD Memo
Nov DPD Memo
Nov DPD Memo
SUBJECT Removal of Victim Data from the Dallas Open Data Portal
Background
On August 18, 2021, DBI briefed the City Council on its efforts to rebuild the Dallas Open Data
Portal. During the rebuilding process, Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence (DBI)
raised concerns about published crime victim data. Subsequent conversations with law
enforcement partners and research of other open data portals across the country validated the
staff’s concerns. On October 14, 2021, DBI removed all Dallas Police Department Victim/
Reporting/Witness Personally Identifying Information (PII) data from the Open Data Portal. On
October 15, DBI sent a memo to Council with intent to make council aware of the redaction of
crime victim data from the Open Data Portal.
The purpose of this memo is to inform the Public Safety Committee of our intent to continue this
protection of sensitive data on the Dallas Open Data Portal. The following recommendations are
intended to increase resident and officer safety and to align with industry standards regarding
publishing sensitive data.
Recommendations
Recommendation #1 - Redact Personally Identifying Information (PII) from all public safety data
files currently published on the Dallas Open Data Portal
• To increase safety and security of first responders and help prevent officers from being
targeted or ambushed while working on an active crime scene.
• To help prevent bystanders from interfering at active crime scenes and help preserve
the integrity of evidence and investigations.
• To align with several other cities that adhere to data publishing best practices and do
not publish real-time active police call data (please refer to the attached table)
Recommendation #3 - Remove all other PII from the Dallas Open Data Portal
• The Freedom of Information Act and the Texas Public Information Act do not mandate
the publishing of PII data.
Increased open data requests could be a potential impact of these recommendations. However,
since staff redacted victim-related data from the Dallas Open Data Portal on October 14, 2021,
there have been no open data requests made on the redacted data. We will continue to monitor
any increase in open data requests caused by recommended data redactions.
Additionally, none of cities certified by the What Works Cities (WWC) program publish victim
names and most of them do not publish any police data related PII. The City of Dallas is currently
working towards WWC certification. What Works Cities is considered the national standard of
excellence for data-driven, well-managed local governments consisting of 40 certified cities
across the country, including four Texas cities (Arlington, Austin, Irving, and San Antonio).
The attached table shows what other cities are doing in relation to the recommendations staff is
proposing. The cities listed are certified under WWC and one other Texas city.
The City of Dallas is committed to protecting sensitive data and adhering to best data practices.
It is important that we remove sensitive data from the Dallas Open Data Portal to help ensure the
safety and security of our residents and employees. If the City Council would like a full briefing on
this matter, staff would be pleased to provide one.
Should you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Dr. Brita Andercheck, Director of
the Office of Data Analytics and Business Intelligence, at Brita.Andercheck@DallasCityHall.com.
Table: What Public Safety and PII Data is Published on What Works Cities Open Data Portals
WWC - Platinum
Los Angeles, CA x x x
Louisville, KY x x x
WWC - Gold
Arlington, TX x x ✔
Austin, TX x x x
Cambridge, MA x x x
Chattanooga, TN x x x
Detroit, MI x x x
Gilbert, AZ x x x
Kansas City, MO x x x
Memphis, TN x x x
Phoenix, AZ x x x
San Francisco, CA x x x
Seattle, WA x x x
Tempe, AZ x x x
Washington, DC x x x
WWC - Silver
Baton Rouge, LA x ✔ x
Bellevue, WA x x x
Boston, MA x x x
Boulder, CO x x x
Charlotte, NC x x x
Cincinnati, OH x x x
Fort Collins, CO x ✔ x
Glendale, AZ x x x
Irving, TX x x ✔
Little Rock, AR x ✔ x
Madison, WI x ✔ ✔
Mesa, AZ x x x
Minneapolis, MN x x x
New Orleans, LA x x x
Norfolk, VA x x ✔
Philadelphia, PA x x x
Portland, OR x x x
San Antonio, TX ✔ x x
San Diego, CA x x x
San Jose, CA x x x
Scottsdale, AZ x x x
South Bend, IN x x x
Syracuse, NY x x x
Topeka, KS x x x
Tulsa, OK x x x
✔ (yes)
x (no)