SBPD seeking community feedback on Transparency Hub

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Over the past year, The South Bend Police Department has been working to enhance its police Transparency Hub. 

First created in 2016, Chief of Police, Scott Ruszkowski says the hub is a way for SBPD to be more transparent with the community about things the department is doing. 

At a user testing session on Wednesday, city leaders explained how to use the website to find things like crime maps, officer commendations and complaints and recruitment data. 

Neighbors were invited to attend, try out the website and give feedback. SBPD wanted to hear from those who don’t work with terms and numbers like this every day. 

Police transparency is essential for gaining public trust, and this hub does just that: providing insight into police processes and taking accountability for actions. 

Ruszkowski says, “I answer, just like all of our officers, to the public to our community, they should have input on the things that we do or not doing and listening to them. This is the opportunity and so what we should be doing, so we swore we'd be doing.” 

SBPD is still looking for community input to keep making the user experience even better.  

If you’re interested in trying out the hub and giving your feedback, reach out to David Finley at [email protected], or Hannah Carter at [email protected].