California uses Silicon Valley tech to address police uses of force

The California Department of Justice on Thursday launched a first-of-its-kind online platform to record police uses of force that result in death or serious injury to a civilian — and report that data to the public.

It will be the first time the state has gathered this use of force data in a comprehensive way, and the program’s backers hope it will allow state officials to find patterns and point out problem agencies or areas with the goal of  helping them craft policies to curb violence. It’s an attempt by the state to build trust between police and civilians during a time when anger over recent police shootings of African-American men is sweeping the country.