Public Safety/ Law Enforecement Reform (LR0025)

Performance indicators
System built, functioning, accessible and regularly updated
Number of persons/users accessing police information on this platform.
Live data available on LNP website
Police dataset on Liberia’s Open Data Portal

For Commitment details, see Liberia Progress Report 2015-2017.

4.4 Establish LNP Online Informatics (Digitize Community Policing)

(MICAT, MOPT, LNP, LISGIS, with support from CENTAL, iLab, UNPOL; 15 July 2015 - 20 February 2016)

Milestones:

· 4.4.1 Create online crime/policing maps with visualization options and interactivity and link it up with police official website;

· 4.4.2. Push current police nationwide data to this platform in real time

· 4.4.3 Make this platform available via LNP official website

Commitment Aim

This commitment plans to establish an online platform to track police data in real time. The platform will include crime maps, motor vehicle accident data, traffic violations data, information on locations of police depots, feedback on actions taken against the unprofessional conduct of police officers, regular updates on road conditions, police recruitment processes and policies, and community engagement activities. If implemented, this commitment could have a transformative impact on citizens’ access to public safety and policing information.

Status

Midterm: Not Started

This commitment has functionally not started. The CSOs involved in implementing it have drafted communication to the Liberian National Police (LNP) and relevant ministries, agencies and commissions on the types of data to collect and publish online. They recommended that datasets on policing be published and that a national police-tracking platform is developed. For more information, please see the 2015–2016 IRM midterm report.

End-of-Term: Limited

The LNP officially launched its website (http://lnp.gov.lr/lnp/) outside the action plan assessment period, on 29 November 2017. According to a representative from the Carter Center, the website aimed to enable both the public and police officers to access information about the institution via mobile phones. However, the website is not being updated on a regular basis.[Note58: Interview with Mr. Nah from Carter Center, November 2017.] Moreover, according to Peace Work Liberia, an NGO that mediates on community conflicts, the mobile website does not provide updates on police data in real time, nor does it provide crime statistics or crime maps. Therefore, the IRM researcher considers this commitment to have a limited level of completion.

The Executive Director of Peace Work Liberia, Mr. William Howard, commended the initiative but noted that the website is not updated on a regular basis.

Did it Open Government?

Access to Information: Did Not Change

The commitment saw limited implementation and the platform was developed after the implementation of the action plan period. According to CSO representatives, the information provided in the platform is limited and is not updated on a regular basis. There are no changes in government practice in disclosing information about police in a meaningful way.

Carried forward?

This commitment was not carried forward.