SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

This assessment analyzes policing data, along with demographic and crime data, to identify which policing practices have patterns of racial disparities, and what factors may be contributing to those disparities.

Watertown Police Department (WPD) joined CPE’s National Justice Database project in February 2021. WPD shared data with CPE in order to receive analyses intended to support community and law enforcement collaboration on data-informed efforts to enhance equity in public safety. This assessment analyzes vehicle stop data from October 2013 – December 2020 and calls for service and officer activity data from January 1, 2014 – July 1, 2020.

DEPARTMENTAL CONTEXT

The population of Watertown, Connecticut is 91% White, 4.5% Latinx, 2% Black, 1.7% Asian, 0.7% Multiple Racial Groups, and 0.1% Other. The total population of Watertown, Connecticut is 21,832.

RESIDENT DEMOGRAPHICS

VEHICLE STOPS

The total number of vehicle stops recorded each year varied from a low of 1,106 in 2015 to a high of 2,923 in 2019.

VEHICLE STOPS PER YEAR

SEARCH RATES AT VEHICLE STOPS

SEARCH RATES AT VEHICLE STOPS

CONTRABAND FOUND AND NOT FOUND IN VEHICLE STOP SEARCHES

PROPORTION OF VEHICLE STOPS OF EACH RACIAL GROUP THAT ARE MADE FOR EACH STOP REASON

PROPORTION OF VEHICLE STOPS OF EACH RACIAL GROUP THAT ENDED IN EACH OUTCOME

CALLS FOR SERVICE AND OFFICER ACTIVITY

Police recorded 86,965 total events from January 1, 2014 - July 1, 2020, including Officer-Initiated Activities and police responses to Calls for Service. 5.3% of these events involved Bodily Harm, Property Harm, or Threats. All Other Events involved no report of Bodily Harm, Property Harm, or Threats.

PERCENTAGE OF CALLS FOR SERVICE AND OFFICER ACTIVITY BY EVENT TYPE

Officers engaged in 580 events that were recorded as involving individuals experiencing mental health crises.

Center for Policing Equity | Data provided by Watertown PD 2014 – 2020

NEXT STEPS

Measure and monitor

Collecting and analyzing data can help you shed light on current problems and measure future progress.

Investigate to learn more

Learn as much as possible about the situations when a disparity occurs or is most severe, in order to understand how to address it.

Identify risk factors and develop targeted interventions

You can then address risk factors by improving written policies and partnering with the community to develop targeted interventions.

Share results

Visit the Justice Navigator homepage to learn more about how to share results and take action.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Funding for this platform was provided by Google.org, Players Coalition, Joyce Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and Lyda Hill Philanthropies. Funding for development of the National Justice Database infrastructure and the original analytic plan upon which these analyses are based was provided by the National Science Foundation, under awards led by Principal Investigators Phillip Atiba Goff, Jack Glaser, Amanda Geller, Steven Raphael, and Amelia Haviland.

Suggested citation: Center for Policing Equity (2022). Watertown Police Department. Justice Navigator, justicenavigator.org.

Scroll to Top