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<br />Police Complaint _~y.stem and Cjvilia!!..Q~_~rsight Recom~~_~datlons <br /> <br />Complaint Routing and Possible Outcomes <br /> <br />The Police Commission has found that issues involving employee performance are otten most <br />appropriately addressed by the supef\lisor. 'This encourages a learning environment for the <br />employee and retains supervisory involvement in employee development and initial corrective <br />action. Service complaints provide for resolution of complaints without a time-intensive, formal <br />investigation and enable supen'isors to address "minor" performance and demeanor issues <br />through management intervention techniques (training, coaching, etc.), If the auditor classifies <br />the contact as a service complaint, a variety of outcomes are available to the complainant, <br />induding notification to the supervisor, alternative resolution options, or referral to supervisor <br />for foUow~up investigation, If misconduct is discovered through supervisor follow-up on a <br />service complaint, the complaint will be reclassifIed as a misconduct allegation. <br /> <br />Complaints categorized by u~e auditor as misconduct allegations will be routed to internal affairs <br />fix investigation. The Police Commission recommends that supervisors no longer investigate <br />complaints about their subordinates and that instead, internal affairs is restructured into a <br />specialized investigative unit that will conduct the majority of complaint investigations. <br /> <br />IUhe complainant alleges behavior that would be a criminal offense, the auditonviH route the <br />case to the Chief of Police for review and a decision to involve the District Attorney. <br /> <br />Both service complaints and misconduct allegations may be appropriate for alternative <br />resolution, depending in part on the type of complaint and the employee's past history. The <br />auditor's office will be responsible for identifying cases that are most appropriate for alternative <br />resolution options, More information a.nd refinements on the alternative resolution process will <br />be developed as part of the commission-sponsored Mediation and Advocacy Task Team. <br /> <br />Timely notification on the receipt and disposition of complaints will be the responsibility of the <br />auditor's office. If a case is dismissed, the auditor will inform the complainant for the ba<;is of <br />the dismissal, If the case will proceed to a fom1al investigation, the auditor's office will notify <br />the complainant and explain or provide information on process expectations, options and <br />timeline. A final disposition letter will be generated after case adjudication clearly explaining <br />the outcome of the case and the basis for the decision. The commission recognizes that while <br />increased transparency and understanding of the complaint process is an overarching goal, public <br />records constraints and confidentiality issues need further discussion and resolution, <br /> <br />The auditor's office will maintain a robust case-tracking database doctill1enting the receipt, status <br />a.'1d disposition of a11 complaints. The database should be shared with Internal Affairs as both <br />entities will have responsibility for tracking cases. If policy or training deficiencies are noted <br />through the reviewlinvestigation of a complaint, these would be documented as an outcome of <br />the complaint. Timelines for complaint notification, classification and routing decisions, <br />investigation, and case disposition will need to be developed. Adherence to the established <br />time1ines will be one of the outcome measures tracked and reported by the auditor's officeo <br /> <br />Attachment I is a flmv chart that illustrates how a community complaint win move through the <br />proposed model. <br /> <br />12 <br />