For the first time in California’s history, the public will be able to search through the records of police misconduct and use-of-force cases, exceeding one and a half million pages—using a single searchable system. The California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database (C.L.E.A.N.) is the effort of a group of journalists, scholars, and civil rights leaders, and marks an unprecedented step toward accountability and transparency in American law enforcement.
At its heart, the CLEAN database opens up access to decades of secrecy. It provides access to shooting incidents, misconduct investigations, and excessive use-of-force cases for nearly 500 agencies in California. This is not merely about data; it is a matter of accountability.
What Is the California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database?
The C.L.E.A.N. Database, available at clean.calmatters.org, is a publicly accessible searchable repository of police records, released under California’s historic “Right to Know Act” (SB 1421) of 2018, along with an expansion of the confidentiality of records law in 2021, SB 16. Together, these two laws opened the door to files about police officer-involved shootings, force used by police officers, and sustained misconduct findings, which had remained confidential for decades.
The CLEAN project put a quantitative layer on these documents and existing police files, created an organized database and allowed for public search based on officer name, agency, case type, or date range.
It is the by-product of one project that was years in the making leading up to the passage of SB 1421 and SB 16 and a collaborative effort between some of California’s most well-known data and investigative journalism organizations: Stanford University’s Big Local News, UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program (IRP), and the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS).
As Stanford’s Cheryl Phillips put it in a Stanford News feature,
“This database of police records is critical for an agency’s credibility and transparency. It allows light to be shed on systemic issues.”
How the California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database Was Built
A team of Stanford and UC Berkeley researchers developed the CLEAN database under the Police Records Access Project, a state-funded initiative created to collect, process, and publish newly accessible law enforcement data.
These requests yielded tens of thousands of documents—ranging from internal investigative reports and body-camera footage transcripts, to autopsy findings, disciplinary decisions, and coroner’s reports.
To manage this flood of information, researchers at Stanford and Berkeley collaborated with data scientists to design a scalable system using machine learning and generative AI.
Here’s how it works:
- Classification: Large language models analyze text files and automatically classify cases as Force, Shooting, or Misconduct under California Penal Code §832.7(b).
- Data extraction: AI identifies incident dates, agencies, and key participants from unstructured documents.
- Staff manually reviewed every AI-generated classification—especially those marked as misconduct—to ensure accuracy.
Importantly, as noted on the CalMatters “About” page, AI is only used to organize data internally. The actual search results always show direct matches from official source documents, preserving factual integrity.
What You Can Find in the California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database
The CLEAN platform organizes cases into three main categories, each representing legally disclosable types of police conduct under California law:
1. Force
Scenarios in which an officer’s use of force resulted in serious or fatal injuries.
Example: A deputy’s physical restraint in a case in 2019 resulted in fatal injuries, during a domestic call.
2. Shooting
Any discharge of a firearm are also be classified as an officer involved shooting, regardless of use of force. Example: An example of a shooting was when a Los Angeles officer accidentally discharged his service weapon when facing a subject in the middle of a chase. An example would be, accident would have also classify under Force.
3. Misconduct
Continued findings by internal investigations of serious rules violations, such as for sexual assault, excessive use of force, lying, discrimination, unlawful arrest, or illegal search.
Each entry contains digital copies of the underlying government documents (PDFs, photos, or transcripts). The system lets users search by officer name, keyword, county, or agency, and filter results by date range or case type.
In this example from the CalMatters-hosted interface, it is well-designed and user-friendly. Check boxes for Misconduct, Force, and Shooting are provided, and at the top is a search bar that provides access.
Methodology and Data Integrity
The CLEAN team emphasizes a rigorous review process.
However, the database also includes clear disclaimers:
- Some information remains incomplete or redacted.
- Agencies are not required to release documents from ongoing investigations.
- Sensitive content—especially related to sexual assault victims—is excluded from search results.
- A single case may appear multiple times if several agencies contributed records.
The team plans to expand the dataset as new records become available, and future updates may include audio, video, and metadata from multimedia files currently excluded.
Why the California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database Matters
The California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database is both a groundbreaking technological advancement and a major civic achievement.
For many years in California, police records were shielded from public view by state laws that prioritized officer privacy over public accountability. CLEAN now provides a centralized platform for collecting and sharing public police records across the state.
As journalist Lisa Pickoff-White of KQED noted,
“It was like we were doing 1,000 puzzles at once. Someone would send us pieces, sometimes literally in the mail, and we had to figure out which puzzle the pieces belonged to.”
Now, researchers can study patterns of force usage, racial disparities, or repeat misconduct across hundreds of jurisdictions. Local journalists can connect cases that once existed in isolation. And ordinary citizens—families of victims, community activists, or students—can finally search for answers in official documents.
The Power and Limitations of the California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database
While CLEAN is a historic achievement, its creators are transparent about the challenges:
- Data Gaps: Agencies are only required to release records of sustained misconduct. Allegations without formal findings often remain hidden.
- Terminology Variance: Search terms may not capture all relevant files. A report referring to a “control hold” may not appear under a search for “chokehold.”
- Redactions: Some records are heavily censored for privacy or safety reasons.
- Multimedia Gaps: Audio and video evidence will be incorporated in future updates.
Despite these limits, CLEAN represents the most comprehensive publicly searchable archive of police accountability records in U.S. history. It merges journalistic rigor, academic precision, and technological innovation to redefine what government transparency can look like.
Collaborators Behind the Project
The CLEAN initiative is part of the larger Police Records Access Project, coordinated by the Community Law Enforcement Accountability Network—a nationwide coalition of journalists, legal experts, and human rights advocates.
Key partners include:
- Stanford University – Big Local News
- UC Berkeley – Investigative Reporting Program
- Berkeley Institute for Data Science
- ACLU of Northern and Southern California
- Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG)
- Los Angeles Times, KQED, LAist, CapRadio, and CalMatters
- UC Irvine and UC Berkeley Law Schools
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
This cross-sector partnership shows how academic, media, and civic institutions can collaborate to uphold transparency—each bringing unique expertise in law, data, and storytelling.
How to Access and Use the Database
Anyone can explore the CLEAN Database at:
🔗 https://clean.calmatters.org
You can:
- Search by officer name, agency, or county
- Filter by case type (Force, Shooting, Misconduct)
- Review the original PDF records from official agencies
- Cross-check multiple agencies’ documents on the same case
- Download files for research or reporting, citing the official source
Conclusion: A Blueprint for National Transparency
The California Law Enforcement Accountability Network Database is far more than a repository—it’s a model for open data governance. It demonstrates how collaboration, technology, and legal reform can converge to make power visible.
In a nation grappling with questions about policing, justice, and trust, CLEAN provides not only data but context. It gives journalists the evidence to investigate, researchers the data to analyze, and citizens the information they need to hold institutions accountable.
As California’s CLEAN project expands, its influence may well reach beyond state borders—serving as a blueprint for similar databases across the United States.
For readers interested in related transparency tools, explore our guides on the Criminal Database Searches USA, Stolen Car Databases, California Business Entity Search, and LA Environmental Health Data Dashboard — each reflecting how open data empowers public accountability.
