19th-quarterly-report.pdf

Nineteenth Quarterly Report of the Independent Monitor for the Oakland Police Department October 30, 2014 Page 62 The Department has also recently revised its Risk Management Process, as noted above, to include PAS Unit internal reviews as the critical step in the review process. The Department is also in the process of developing a new data system for use in the Risk Management Process. OPD’s commitment in this area, and the City’s, reflect recognition of the importance of the Risk Management System for management of the department and for assisting officers whose careers could be damaged by risk-related behavior. The Department has even extended its approach to risk management to emphasize employee assistance issues that had not previously been associated with the risk management process. OPD revised and issued Departmental General Order D-17, Personnel Assessment Program in November 2013. Based on the existing policy, we again find OPD in continued Phase 1 compliance with this Task. As in previous reports, we have continued our examination of the stages of the PAS process consistent with this Task. We examined the threshold analyses that were performed for the period of April 1, through June 30, 2014. This included a review of peer-based threshold analyses completed by the PAS Administration Unit and the identification of officers meeting the single-event threshold. In accordance with this Task requirement, we reviewed PAS processes for the system’s use in placement of officers on special assignment, transfer of officers, and commendations. An important function of PAS is to regularly provide supervisors with relevant information on officers. To consider that function, we again reviewed reports of regular quarterly PAS command reviews of officers by supervisors. We again found appropriate use of the system and no significant issues. The PAS process also calls for follow-up reports of officers under supervision or monitoring, and we reviewed reports of 21 officers not discharged from the process by the end of one year. These document supervisory reviews of officers who have been selected for some form of action as a result of PAS reviews. For the reporting period ending June 30, 2014, OPD concluded a total of 39 PAS reviews. There were 10 in the previous reporting period. The numbers of reviews had fallen in the transition to the process involving initial internal reviews by PAS staff. This transition is now complete and the number of review has returned to that occurring prior to midyear 2013. The procedural change was an effort to reduce the number of false positive finding where reviews revealed no significant problems. Reviews are included in the table below only after they are signed off through the level of the PAS Review Panel. Examination of the reviews shows them to be thorough. The new system of internal PAS unit reviews has thus far continues to result in high quality and complete documentation. The table also shows that 29 officers exceeded thresholds for review during this quarter and that a reduction has occurred in the number (19) of reviews listed as pending at the end of the quarter.