It shouldn't be, but it's an important step in the right direction. It's impossible to properly address a problem if you don't fully understand its size or scope or depth.



Days after the launch of two newspaper database projects aimed at tracking killings by police officers, two Democratic senators announced Tuesday that they will introduce legislation that would require all states to report to the Justice Department anytime a police officer is involved in a shooting or any other use of force that results in death. The legislation, introduced by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), would require reporting of all shootings by police officers -- including non-fatal ones -- which is a step further than the Death In Custody Reporting Act, which was approved by Congress last year. Each state would be required details including age, gender, race and whether the person was armed for any police shooting.

“Too many members of the public and police officers are being killed, and we don’t have reliable statistics to track these tragic incidents,” Boxer said in a statement. “This bill will ensure that we know the full extent of the problem so we can save lives on all sides.” Aides to the senators said their bill, the Police Reporting of Information, Data and Evidence (Pride) Act, would force mandatory reporting on the same data being collected by The Counted, a database published by the Guardian beginning this week.

According to The Guardian Who knows if this bill will actually pass, and if it does, when it will take effect. Thankfully, journalists and citizens have already taken this project into their own hands and will ensure that the data is strong moving forward. Ultimately though, it's in everyone's best interests for this reporting to be mandatory so that no shootings, killings, or extreme uses of force by police go uncounted.