Statement: The Need for Data Transparency

Statement by Supervisor Joel Engardio
San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting
January 10, 2023

The Need for Data Transparency

As a former journalist I know how effective good journalism can be at assessing and shining a light on the strengths and weaknesses of government.

But journalists can only do that if they have access to the data they need.

I am aware that laws exist requiring the disclosure of existing documents to journalists. 

But those laws don’t require departments to regularly disclose and update data analyzing important metrics that tell the public how the City is doing.

I believe in a data-driven approach to City government. 

I want to make it easier for journalists to assist in that work. 

It’s also important that we let ordinary residents have access to this data so they don’t need a journalist to do it for them.

Ordinary residents should be able to go online and with a few user friendly clicks find out for themselves how well the government is functioning.

I looked at some crime data dashboards, and the best one I saw was in Cook County, Illinois, which is Chicago. The district attorney in Chicago is very progressive. Her name is Kim Foxx.

She puts all the data out in the open for everyone to see how she is doing. Chicago’s online data dashboard is a great model for data transparency and accessibility for a prosecutor’s office.

Transparency is achieved through regular releases of felony case-level datasets. They offer an unobstructed view of the office’s public safety work on behalf of Cook County taxpayers. 

The datasets contain anonymized information about every felony case processed by the prosecutor going back 14 years. 

They are divided into four stages of interaction — Intake, Initiation, Sentencing, and Disposition. 

Any journalist, researcher, crime victim, or member of the community can easily analyze what the prosecutor is doing.

The online experience is super easy. You don’t need any technical expertise. There is no barrier to seeing how a government office is performing.

We need this in San Francisco. If Chicago can do it, we can do it. Chicago has the same civil liberty and privacy issues that we have. Kim Foxx is one of the nation’s most progressive district attorneys. If she can show all her data, we can do the same. 

So, I will be calling for a hearing to learn from law enforcement departments and advocates what metrics are needed to assess what’s working and what isn’t.

Once I establish those metrics, I will work with the City Attorney’s office to prepare legislation requiring City departments to post that data to the public in a clear, robust and user friendly way.