(AP) - A 16-month investigation has found New Jersey's system for reporting police use-of-force incidents is broken and ineffective and hides some alarming trends.

The probe by NJ Advance Media for NJ.com pulled data from 468 police departments and the state police from 2012 to 2016. It found use-of-force reporting by local police departments was inconsistent, incomplete and, in many cases, missing altogether.

Some of the reports showed some officers used force at a frequency many times the state average. Blacks were disproportionately on the receiving end of force used by police.

The investigation found the state hasn't followed through on its own directive from nearly 20 years ago to establish a database to study trends and identify potential problem officers.