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<br />________~_~!Ice Complaint System ~_~~__~ivilian Oversight Recom~_~ndatjons <br /> <br />14th meeting, the intake model was revised again, this time directing all civilian comphtints to the <br />auditor's office for intake, classification, and follow up. <br /> <br />The Intake Committee aJso developed recommendations on several issues reiated to complaint <br />intake and handling decisions, such as whether anonymous complaints should be accepted and <br />the role of mediation and other alternative resolution options in the process. These <br />recolmnendations, along with the latest iteration of the intake model description, are described in <br />more detail later in this report. <br /> <br />Adiudication/Review CgIQmitl~~ <br />The goals of the AdjudicationJReview Committee were to: 1) review existing practices around <br />case adjudication, discipline decisions, and review/appeal of the adjudication, 2) explore other <br />processes/models and how civilian oversight fits into those models, and 3) make <br />recommendations for changes that would promote accountability, thoroughness, timeliness, <br />integrity, faimess, transparency and consistency. The committee began its task by reviewing the <br />1998 External Review Advisory Committee (BRAe) report and analyzing broad categories of <br />civilian complaint review to identify strengths and weaknesses of each type of system. Three <br />models were reviewed: Auditor/Ombudsman Only; Civilian Review Board; and Hybrid Models <br />that included both an auditor and review board. The committee agreed early on that it preferred <br />a hybrid system as advocated by the ERAC, but that its proposal should be more specific about <br />the auditor and civilian review board's authority, responsibilities aIid reporting relationships to <br />city leadership and other policy bodies. <br /> <br />The committee cited the following benefits of a hybrid system: <br />o it incorporates the advantages of auditor and civilian review board-only models by <br />combining increased citizen involvement and professional expertise; <br /> <br />o it addresses requests of communjty and police employees for a fair, transparent and <br />credible system; <br /> <br />o it provides tor more "checks and balances" within the complaint process and of police <br />practices in general; <br /> <br />o by not just focusing on individual complaints, the auditor is able monitor investigations <br />with an eye towards systemic improvements, adding analytical capacity to the <br />organization; <br /> <br />o there is the ability to avoid some of the lega1/labor contract issues because the auditor, as <br />a dty employee, could assume some duties that would otherwise be bargainable if vested <br />in a citizen board. <br /> <br />Committee members also acknowledged that a hybrid system could pose some challenges in <br />comparison to the other models: <br />o it may be more complex to implement and there is less chance for a seamless operation; <br />o there is the possibility of an adversarial relationship between the various oversight <br />components, policy bodies and city leadership; <br /> <br />o more components add bureaucratic layers and expense to the process; <br /> <br />o complaint resolution is apt to be less timely than in other models. <br /> <br />B <br />