21st-quarterly-report.pdf

Twenty-First Quarterly Report of the Independent Monitor for the Oakland Police Department May 4, 2015 Page 50 Task 34.2 requires that Stop Data Forms be filled out with the following information: 1) time; 2) date; 3) location; 4) identification of member making stop; 5) reason for stop; 6) apparent race/ethnicity of individual(s) stopped; 7) gender of individual(s) stopped; 8) outcome of stop (arrest or no arrest); 9) whether a search was conducted; 10) outcome of any search; and 11) offense category (felony, misdemeanor, or infraction) (compliance standard: 85%). The entry of stop data into the Field Based Reporting (FBR) system requires officers to make a selection in each form field. If an officer fails to fill in the information in any field, the system does not allow the form to be completed. One of the more important data elements required by this Task is the capture of the reason or justification for the stop – essentially the point at which any evaluation of the appropriateness of a stop commences. OIG periodically conducts internal reviews of Stop Data Forms to verify compliance with requirements, including the basis for stops. During this reporting period, we also focused on this important element in our review of 250 CAD entries and Field Contact Cards. Of the 250 stops, we eliminated 14 due to the lack of any narrative. Our analysis of the remaining 236 stops found none to be questionable; accordingly, we determined that 100% of the stops in the sample were valid. This represents a continued improvement by OPD with its documentation of the stops. The Department is in compliance with Task 34.2. During the prior reporting period, we analyzed and commented on the Department’s practice of reviewing stop data within each of the five designated geographic Areas – and as the data compares to the Department as a whole – at its monthly Risk Management Meetings. During our most recent site visit, we observed the Risk Management Meeting (which included stop data for the period of January 18, through November 14, 2014), and held discussions with OPD regarding the Area selected for review. We have been particularly interested in stops that result in frisks or searches. We – and others – have raised questions as to whether the present OPD search recovery rate of 22% is consistent with national or other data. We find no credible national or other data suggesting a numerical average or recommended goal; and therefore, at this time, we make no comparative judgment on this percentage. However, it is imperative that the Department makes every effort to increase the present recovery rate, and to examine closely patrol squads with particularly low or high rates. OPD search recovery data also provides important information regarding indicia – or more precisely in this instance, the absence of indicia – reflective of racially or ethnically disparate treatment related to searches. Put differently, the overall search recovery data for the selected time period is 22%; in other words, OPD officers recovered contraband in 22 of every 100 searches. The racial/ethnic breakdown for the specifically categorized population groups however, indicate a significant variance in the recovery rates ranging from 8% to 29%, with the white population group the lowest at 8%, and the African American population group the highest at 29% or 7% above average, during the specified period. (See illustration below.)