How EncounterTrack Works

EncounterTrack is a documentation platform that helps police officers record civilian encounters at the time they happen, and gives agencies a structured way to review that documentation and generate compliance reports. This page explains, in plain terms, how the platform works for anyone evaluating it.

How Encounters Get Documented

When an officer has an investigative encounter with a civilian, they log it in EncounterTrack using the same three-tier classification system NYPD's own Patrol Guide uses: a Request for Information (Level 1), a Common Law Right of Inquiry (Level 2), or a Terry Stop (Level 3). Officers document the encounter at or near the time it occurs, capturing the basis for the encounter, relevant details, and outcome.

How Records Get Reviewed

Every logged encounter goes to a supervisor for review. Supervisors can approve or flag encounters, providing a layer of oversight before records are considered finalized.

How Compliance Reports Are Generated

Reviewed, approved encounters feed into compliance reports that agencies can generate and export. These reports are built directly from the underlying encounter records, so what's in a report traces back to what officers actually logged and supervisors actually reviewed.

Why This Exists

Honest, contemporaneous documentation serves two purposes at once: it protects officers who followed procedure by giving them a clear, timely record of what happened, and it gives oversight bodies and the public real transparency into how encounters are conducted. EncounterTrack is built to support both of those goals equally.

Compliance Note

Reports generated through EncounterTrack are structured to align with applicable state and local transparency requirements.