The Texas Justice Initiative was founded to collect, vet and publicly release information on criminal justice and policing in Texas. TJI released its first report and two related data sets on June 1, 2018. The report includes analysis of nearly three years’ worth of officer-involved shootings in Texas, and more than a dozen years’ worth of records on custodial deaths in Texas.

"An incredible team of volunteers has been working together for months to build TJI," says founder Eva Ruth Moravec. "Now that our framework is built, we're ready for intentional growth."

A $1000 grant from the Austin Awesome Foundation will help TJI make this data even more accessible to the public. By automating and streamlining their back-end processes, users will be able to filter, map, and parse the raw data for themselves.

Says Moravec: "We believe that with quality information, Texans can craft good policy, improve governance, ensure accountability and identify creative solutions."