Item B: Police Auditor Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Q b) For all complaints lodged with the Auditor's Office or Internal Affairs, the Auditor's office conducts the pre/iminaty investigatiorf to appropriately classify and. route the complaint and any accompanying information accordingly. , ' , . , 1. If a complaint is received that alleges cri~inal conduct on the part of the employee, the police auditor Shall forward the complaint and .any'other information gathered to ,the Chief of Police. c) The Auditor's Office determines if complaints are appropriate for alternative resolution* and upon the . voluntary agreement of the involved parties and approval pf the Chief of Police, coordinates the resolution of such cases. " d) The Auditor's Office classifies complaints that will be treated as community impact cases* and supports the Civilian Review'Board in its review of these cases and other cases accepted by the Civilian Review Board. ~) T~e Auditor's Office may dismiss a' complaint if upon review, it meets established criteria for such action, including reporting delays and/or insufficient information from which to take further action. t f) The Auditor's Office provides timely updates on the status of a complaint and notification of final disposition to the complainant. g) The police auditor may review and process a complaint not filed directly with tlJe Auditor's Office if the s/he determines that concerns have been expressed about police employee(s) conduct. 11. Complaint Investigations . . a) The police auditor actively monitors internal investigations to ensure a thorough,.objective, and timely investigation and is authorized to:' 1. 'participate in complainant, employee and witness interviews. 2. require the City to underta~e additional investigation3. ,/-"'" ,; ) . .... b) The police auditor may require, and is authorized to contract for, an external investigation when the police auditor determines that an external investigation is necessary to reduce real or perceived bias or that the.investigation requires specialized skills that internal investigators do not have. c) The police auditor will not be directly involved in any criminal investigations, but shall be kept apprised of the status of such investigations involving police employees. The police auditor shall have access to the case file relevant to the administrative portion of such investigations. Following the conclusion of any criminal matter, the police auditor reviews any related investigation as otherwise provided in this section. d) . OPTION 2a: All case files shall be provided to the police auditor upon conclusion of the investigation for review and determination that the investig~tion is thorough and complete. At the point the police auditor is satisfied that the investigation is complete, s/he win confer with the involved employee's superVisor to develop a case adjudiCation recommendation that will be forwarded through the Chain of Command to the Chi~f of Police.. Any disagreements on the adjudication recom~endation will be documented and forwarded to the Chief of Police for a final adjudication decision. . 2 The commission discussed replacing the word 'investigation' in this section to avoid confusion with the case investigation process conducted by Internal Affairs staff: Substitute,words offered for consideration to replace 'preliminary investigation' included: as'sessment, evaluation, and screening. )fhis language is derived directly from the Charter amendinent. The commission considered additional'language consistent with its .(,~ort that would set' broad guidelines for when additional investigation would be appropriate,(i.e., to ensure a complete, unbiased investigation) but was concerned with creating unintended restrictions to the auditor's authority to require further investigation. 3