19th-quarterly-report.pdf

Nineteenth Quarterly Report of the Independent Monitor for the Oakland Police Department October 30, 2014 Page 39 During this reporting period, OPD commanders took supervisory action against officers for not using their PDRDs as required in the Level 2, 3, and 4 cases we assessed. We encourage OPD to continue to hold supervisors accountable for ensuring that officers are using their PDRDs in accordance with Department policy. OPD’s overall compliance rate for timeliness is 99%, and for NSA-required elements is 100%. OPD is in compliance with Task 25.2. Task 25.3 requires that all supervisors be trained on how to conduct use of force investigations, and that such training is part of a supervisory training course (compliance standard: 95%). As we have noted previously, OPD has incorporated use of force training into the continued professional training (CPT) that is required for all sergeants every 18 months to two years. During this reporting period, as part of CPT, OPD offered use of force training in areas including: firearms/force options; in-service firearms qualifications; and use of force case law review. Although these courses do not specifically address conducting investigations, they help supervisors to develop their knowledge and understanding in critical areas before being assigned use of force investigations. We encourage OPD to continue to provide periodic refresher training to underscore to supervisors the importance of conducting complete, thorough, and impartial use of force investigations that are submitted in a timely fashion. OPD is in compliance with Task 25.3. Task 25.4 requires that the investigations include required recommendations (compliance standard: 90%). Areas of recommendation include: whether the force used was pursuant to a legitimate law enforcement objective; whether the type and amount of force used was proportional to the resistance encountered and reasonably related to the objective the officers were attempting to achieve; whether the officers used reasonable verbal means to attempt to resolve the situation without force, if time and circumstance permitted such attempts; and whether the force used was de-escalated or stopped reasonably when resistance decreased or stopped. During this reporting period, we reviewed three Level 4 use of force incidents that involved the unjustified pointing of firearms. These reports did not comport with NSA-required elements; each of the incidents involved an unnecessary escalation to potentially using lethal force in situations where other less lethal force options were available to the officers or should have been considered. The remainder of the cases, however, contained information showing that the force was used for a legitimate law enforcement purpose, was reasonable to the resistance encountered, and was de- escalated when resistance decrease or stopped; and that verbal means were used to attempt to resolve the situation without force. OPD’s compliance rate for this subtask is 97%. OPD is in compliance with Task 25.4.