Data in policing is typically used to track crime. Chief Andre Anderson of Ann Arbor Police Department thinks that’s only one part of it. In this conversation, he talks about what it looks like to use data to identify who needs resources, how transparency has to start with the community before it starts with the technology, and what he’d tell young people considering a career in law enforcement.
You’ve talked about transparency as being central to how you lead. What does meaningful transparency actually require?
It starts with going out into your community and asking them what they want from the police department. No community wants to be policed without someone first asking: what type of response would you like? What’s most important to you?
For us in Ann Arbor, that means asking questions about how we respond to people experiencing homelessness, about drug-related issues, about whether arrest is actually the right tool for the problems we’re seeing. We arrest so many people in this country and the honest question is, how effective is that?
Transparency isn’t solved solely by publishing data or making a dashboard available. You have to understand what the community expects from its police department and be willing to have honest conversations about whether current approaches are achieving those goals.
How do you rethink the role of data in that context?
Most departments use data to count crime. I think we need to invert that. Instead of looking at the top ten people committing crimes, ask: who are the top ten people in our community most in need of support and resources? .
When you turn the lens that direction, data becomes a tool for connecting people to help rather than just labeling them. Someone coming into a store and taking toiletries and infant formula — what does the data tell you about that person? That they need help. That’s a different response than an arrest.
Data can explain the true story of the person you’re coming into contact with instead of just assigning them a label. It helps you identify the right resources, the right partners and the right response.
Officers often spend more time on paperwork than in the community. How do you think about that operationally?
It’s a real constraint, and it affects your ability to do community policing work. The goal has to be getting officers tools that are easy to use, that reduce friction, and that actually help them do the analytical work that informs smarter deployment and better resource decisions. Every minute spent navigating outdated systems is time spent not serving the community.
Records management systems have evolved significantly. The best ones today give officers more time in the field while also giving leadership better visibility into what’s happening across the department: dashboards, data analysis, the ability to surface where problems are concentrated and what the right response looks like.
Technology should remove barriers, not create them. When your systems work well, they support better decision-making at every level of the organization.
For Chief Anderson, the future of policing belongs to leaders who are willing to challenge assumptions, embrace new ideas, and use data in innovative and proactive ways to address community needs.
Chief Andre Anderson is the Chief of Police for the Ann Arbor Police Department. This is the third post in a three-part series on community policing, trust, and the future of public safety leadership.
