Columbus Launches Public Police Complaint Dashboard as Review Board Pushes for Case Tracking

The City of Columbus has publicly launched an interactive Tableau data dashboard tracking citizen complaints against Columbus Division of Police personnel, replacing static quarterly and annual PDF summaries with interactive misconduct records dating back to 2023.

Enterprise data architects from the Columbus Department of Technology and staff from the Columbus Department of the Inspector General unveiled the live tool during Civilian Police Review Board Meeting #63 on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Technical discovery and design work for the platform began in December 2025 between the two departments. Under the operating process outlined to the board, data updates follow a manual monthly review cadence, allowing oversight staff to reconcile internal intake logs before refreshing public visualizations.

During a presentation on second-quarter oversight trends delivered to the board, city officials outlined complaint volumes and disposition patterns. The Inspector General's office received 341 complaints during the second quarter of 2026, up by 44 from the 297 complaints received in the first quarter. Telephone contacts represented the predominant reporting channel, with 242 complaints submitted through the department's intake hotline. Investigators closed 259 complaints during the initial intake phase, including 105 matters closed because complainants provided insufficient information to proceed with an inquiry.

While board members praised the transition from static PDF releases to interactive data, review panel members urged the city to provide deeper transparency for individual residents. Board Chair Burns and board members called on the Department of Technology to add case-number lookup features so complainants can check the real-time status of their submissions and download written investigative findings online without having to contact oversight staff by telephone.

Enterprise Data Architect Eric Lo confirmed to the board that case-level tracking and attaching final PDF investigative determinations are technically feasible options under consideration for future dashboard updates.

The City of Columbus has publicly launched an interactive Tableau data dashboard tracking citizen complaints against Columbus Division of Police personnel, replacing static quarterly and annual PDF summaries with interactive misconduct records dating back to 2023.

Enterprise data architects from the Columbus Department of Technology and staff from the Columbus Department of the Inspector General unveiled the live tool during Civilian Police Review Board Meeting #63 on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Technical discovery and design work for the platform began in December 2025 between the two departments. Under the operating process outlined to the board, data updates follow a manual monthly review cadence, allowing oversight staff to reconcile internal intake logs before refreshing public visualizations.

During a presentation on second-quarter oversight trends delivered to the board, city officials outlined complaint volumes and disposition patterns. The Inspector General's office received 341 complaints during the second quarter of 2026, up by 44 from the 297 complaints received in the first quarter. Telephone contacts represented the predominant reporting channel, with 242 complaints submitted through the department's intake hotline. Investigators closed 259 complaints during the initial intake phase, including 105 matters closed because complainants provided insufficient information to proceed with an inquiry.

While board members praised the transition from static PDF releases to interactive data, review panel members urged the city to provide deeper transparency for individual residents. Board Chair Burns and board members called on the Department of Technology to add case-number lookup features so complainants can check the real-time status of their submissions and download written investigative findings online without having to contact oversight staff by telephone.

Enterprise Data Architect Eric Lo confirmed to the board that case-level tracking and attaching final PDF investigative determinations are technically feasible options under consideration for future dashboard updates.