The FBI is launching a new database to track how often police use deadly force

On Wednesday, FBI Director James Comey announced the agency will soon release a database that will track police use of deadly force. Comey told members of Congress during an ongoing oversight hearing that the database will be "up and running within two years," and that it will keep a tally of how many deaths are caused nationwide by police, The Associated Press reported.

Many, including Comey, have long been critical of the lack of such a database, as the information is increasingly in demand following numerous controversial cases of police violence over the last two years. Last October, Comey called it "embarrassing and ridiculous" that officials were not able to determine whether two high-profile police shootings were "isolated events or part of an alarming trend," The Washington Post reported. "It is unacceptable," Comey said, that media outlets like The Washington Post and The Guardian are the "lead source of information about violent encounters between police and civilians."

Comey is hopeful the database will allow future conversations about police violence to be shaped by the facts. "Everybody gets why it matters," he said Wednesday.

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