Obama Police Panel May Establish Deadly Force Incident Tracking

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, tapped by the Obama administration to help bolster law enforcement's standing in the wake of national unrest stirred by a series of killings of young black men by white officers, said that the long-standing gap in police reporting "needs to be addressed.''

The newly created White House panel on policing will consider establishing a national repository that tracks all manner of civilian deaths at the hands of law enforcement officers. It's part of an effort to re-establish trust between police and the communities they serve, the co-chairman of the committee said.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, tapped by the Obama administration to help bolster law enforcement's standing in the wake of national unrest stirred by a series of killings of young black men by white officers, said that the long-standing gap in police reporting "needs to be addressed.''

"It will be on the table, no question,'' Ramsey told USA Today.

The most prominent record of civilian fatalities — the FBI's annual report of justifiable homicides by police — was described by Ramsey as "hit or miss'' because of its reliance on voluntary reporting by police agencies, a practice that results in a partial accounting.

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