Item A: Tri-Annual Report to CC from Police Auditor

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contain the names of parties to a complaint (employees, complainants and/or witnesses) not previously disclosed. Implemented. j) Determine whether applicants for the civilian review board meet the requisite qualifications in section 2.242(1)(a)1. And 2.242(1)(d). Completed. 3. The police auditor shall receive timely notification of critical incidents to enable him/her, or a qualified designee, to report to the scene of critical incidents. The police auditor and chief of police shall develop necessary protocols for summoning the police auditor to the incident for purposes of first-hand observation. Completed. 4. The police auditor shall participate in use of force review boards. Ongoing. 5. All case adjudication and employee discipline decisions shall be made by the chief of police. The police auditor may develop adjudication recommendations, but is not authorized to recommend the level of discipline for police employees. Implemented and Ongoing. Complaint Process Within an administrative complaint process, what remains problematic, and is often a major concern for a complainant, is a complaint that they are not guilty of an offense, that the facts as stated by the officer are not accurate, that others allegedly committing the same offenses are not arrested or charged, and that the time and expense to defend oneself is onerous. Within the criminal justice system of the U.S., a heavy burden remains with the courts, prosecutors and defense attorneys to ensure that justice is served when someone is charged with an offense. Any failures in these systems places additional burdens on individuals and agencies like citizen complaint avenues. The diagram on the next page captures the flow of complaints, whether generated by the community (external complaints) or generated internally from the police department. It does not include community impact cases. As the diagram/flow chart illustrates, complaints are handled thoroughly and completely. Many variables exist Amendments, union contracts and labor/management negotiated protocols all factor into the path of a particular complaint. This diagram, revised since last year to show the additional disciplinary steps is an excellent illustration of the volume of work and number of decisions that are made throughout the complaint process. It is indicative of the need to have experienced professionals with knowledge of administrative, and at times, criminal processes. One of the most difficult aspects of the process is the classification of the complaint. and never made hastily. The Auditor must evaluate information at hand which rarely if ever provides all of the facts at the intake and classification stages. Sometimes, a classification may change one or more times as additional facts are received. It is important to note that, as the hiring authority (as delegated by the City Manager), the police chief is the person who makes the discipline trends. The chart below indicates that we take the complaint process seriously and invest a significant amount of time trying to resolve the issues presented to us by the community members through the complaint process. 6