More than 1,000 MuckRock readers have let us know that they want more transparency around how their local law enforcement agency does its job. You can join them.

In defending his agency, the acting deputy head of Homeland Security insisted every police department in America uses unmarked cars. File a request in your community to find out how many they have and how they use them.

Today, MuckRock’s Beryl Lipton and Open the Government’s Freddy Martinez will be featured in a training session hosted by the Project on Government Oversight. In coordination with that event, we’ve compiled some fast thoughts on how federal oversight and resources can complement local and state research and policy developments.

This Friday, we’re joining together with partners to host a free training for journalists, organizers, and the public to better understand how to use open records to bring more transparency to policing.

An Illinois Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Chicago-based Lucy Parsons Labs has led to the release of a “Best Practices and Training Guide” for the PredPol predictive policing software. The manual offers a rare look at how private companies are encouraging police to embrace algorithms as a means of seeking out crime before it happens.