Brothers and Sisters,

After the events in 2020, DHS mandated for agencies to create a collection system for Use of Force incidents, and in 2022, President Biden signed Executive Order “Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety.” With both mandates, the Secret Service collaborated with multiple entities to create a new reporting system.

This week, members of the Executive Board, our legal counsel, FLEOA reps, and their legal counsel were invited to RTC to view a new reporting system, called EForce, that will become operational very soon. EForce was presented to the group on how it works and we were afforded the opportunity to ask questions. The meeting was very productive and most of our questions were answered so that we can provide the most accurate information to our members.

The definition of Use of Force, as it pertains to this reporting system is “Any force to control and detain a person more than that of a compliant person.” In layman’s terms, any force utilized, such as pressure points, holds, or intermediate weapons must be reported into this system. The Secret Service will upload the data to the FBI every 30 days and to DHS every 90 days. The data that is uploaded to both entities WILL NOT have employee personnel PII attached.

The EForce system has drop down boxes to answer, such as yes/no questions, and an area for a narrative. This area for the narrative is a benefit so you can copy/paste your public narrative or just reference your CCN. There is also an area to select where the use of force was applied and questions asking if the force applied made the subject compliant.

To determine use of force, the Service has broken it down into different areas. Those areas include:

• Utilizing pressure points or holds
• Retrieving and extending your baton
• Removal of your O/C from its holster/use of O/C
• Removing your taser from its holster, powering it on and arcing (Taser Deployment)
• Pulling the trigger on your Taser exposing someone to the barbs (Taser Exposure)

Eforce is set up so personnel can enter the information quickly and submit it to the on-scene supervisor. Once the on-scene supervisor approves the report, it is then sent to RTC legal for approval, then sent to RTC Use of Force where once approved, it is locked. At no point throughout this process can someone, other than the creator of the report, change any information, nor can the report be seen by everyone. EForce is being utilized to collect use of force incident data, however, it is also being utilized to collect the de-escalation items. (For example, Officer Smith came across an agitator and drew his/her Taser. Officer Smith arcs the Taser and the agitator became compliant.) Is this a use of force? Yes, because Officer Smith had to draw the Taser, however, it is also a de-escalation item because Officer Smith did not have a Taser exposure.

The EForce report can be completed, with supervisor approval, on a later date, especially for incidents that are considered critical. In addition, if there are multiple personnel on scene where force is used, each person who used force will have to complete a EForce report. Within EForce, there is also space for personnel to add other involved agencies.

EForce will be utilized to collect the data needed to be in compliance with the Executive Order and DHS. This program will not be utilized to affect promotions, selections for units or bonuses. RTC Use of Force shop will utilize this data to see where training could be better or if personnel need to be retrained in a specific area.

We would like everyone to have a head’s up on what is coming down the pipeline and know that your Executive Board is working hard for you. This is a new system and will more than likely have to be tweaked to work the bugs out. If you have questions or concerns, as always, please feel free to reach out to your shop stewards and board members.

Fraternally,

The Executive Board