21st-quarterly-report.pdf

Twenty-First Quarterly Report of the Independent Monitor for the Oakland Police Department May 4, 2015 Page 42 Task 26: Force Review Board (FRB) Requirements: OPD shall develop and implement a policy concerning its FRB proceedings. The policy shall: 1. Set out procedures, membership and a timetable for FRB review of use of force investigations involving Level 2 incidents, as defined in Department General Order K-4, REPORTING AND INVESTIGATING THE USE OF FORCE; 2. Require the FRB to review all use of force investigations; 3. Require the FRB to make a recommendation as to whether the use of force was in policy or out of policy; 4. Require the FRB to forward sustained policy violations to the Discipline Officer. 5. Require the FRB not to review any use of force allegation until the internal investigations has been completed; 6. Authorize the FRB to recommend to the Chief of Police additional use of force training or changes in policies or tactics, or additional standards, investigatory policies, or training for use of force investigations; 7. Require the FRB to conduct an annual review of use of force cases examined, so as to identify any patterns of use of force practices that may have policy or training implications, and thereafter, issue a report to the Chief of Police; 8. Require that the FRB membership include, at a minimum, one member from the Training Division, one member from the Field Training Officer program, and either the Bureau of Field Operations Deputy Chief or his/her designee; 9. Minimally, that one member of the FRB shall be replaced at least annually. (Negotiated Settlement Agreement V. C.) Discussion: Our review of Department General Order K-4.1, Force Review Boards (August 1, 2007), determined that this policy comports with the requirements of Task 26. As the Department has trained at least 95% of relevant personnel on these policies, we find OPD in continued Phase 1 compliance with this Task. Task 26.1 requires that the Force Review Board (FRB) review all Level 2 use of force investigations following the completion of the internal investigation (compliance standard: 95%). DGO K-4.1 requires that the FRB chair convene an FRB to review the factual circumstances of all Level 2 cases within 90 days of receipt of the use of force packet from IAD. OPD provided documentation for three incidents that were heard by the board during this reporting period of October 1, through December 31, 2014. We determined that both of the FRB reports we reviewed were timely. OPD is in compliance with this subtask. Task 26.2 requires that for every Level 2 use of force investigation, the FRB make a recommendation as to whether the use of force was in or out of policy (compliance standard: 95%). All three FRB reports we reviewed contained recommendations noting that the use of force was in or not in compliance with policy, and all three noted agreement with the recommendation of the FRB by the Chief of Police or his designee.