Concerns surrounding the use of force by police officers appear to be growing, fuelled by perceptions that the police use force too frequently, research showing that force is applied disproportionately to members of certain groups, and the view held by some that the mechanisms for holding police responsible for unjustified force are inadequate. In this paper, we advocate for the creation of a national use-of-force database in Canada to gain a better understanding of these issues, adding our voice to those who have already been actively calling for this. We describe some of the potential benefits that would be associated with such a database, including the fact that it would enhance police transparency and accountability, while also increasing our understanding of when and why force is used and what strategies may be useful for reducing inappropriate applications of force. We also highlight some of the challenges we think would be encountered, including mandating nationwide participation, overcoming resistance from the police community, establishing sensible case inclusion criteria, and standardizing data collection. While these are significant challenges, we believe not only that they are possible to overcome but that doing so will provide real value to Canadian society.

中文翻译：

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需要加拿大警察使用武力事件数据库

对警察使用武力的担忧似乎在增加，原因是人们认为警察使用武力过于频繁，研究表明武力不成比例地应用于某些群体的成员，以及一些人认为持有警察的机制对不正当武力负责是不够的。在本文中，我们提倡在加拿大建立一个国家武力使用数据库，以更好地了解这些问题，并为那些已经积极呼吁的人加入我们的声音。我们描述了与这样一个数据库相关的一些潜在好处，包括它将提高警察的透明度和问责制，同时也增加了我们对何时以及为何使用武力以及哪些策略可能有助于减少不当使用武力的理解。我们还强调了我们认为会遇到的一些挑战，包括强制全国参与、克服警察界的阻力、建立合理的案件纳入标准以及标准化数据收集。虽然这些都是重大挑战，但我们相信不仅可以克服这些挑战，而且这样做将为加拿大社会带来真正的价值。