seventeenth-quarterly-report.pdf

Seventeenth Quarterly Report of the Independent Monitor for the Oakland Police Department April 28, 2014 Page 34 As noted previously, Department officials recently informed us that OPD has discontinued its use of acting sergeants for patrol-related duties. The Department continues to place acting sergeants in non-patrol assignments. As noted above, the Department is revising its related policy accordingly; we will discuss this further in our next quarterly report. To assess Task 20.2 during this reporting period, we reviewed spreadsheets prepared by the Department for the months of October, November, and December 2013 that, by date, note which type of sergeant supervised each squad – a primary sergeant, relief sergeant, Tier 2 relief sergeant, or other. (Using Telestaff, we also spot-checked this data to verify its accuracy.) We calculated per squad the compliance percentages for this subtask during this reporting period. Every Task 20.2-applicable squad must be supervised by a legitimate primary or relief sergeant at least 85% of its working shifts in order for the Department to be in compliance with this subtask. During the last reporting period, 27 of the 44 applicable squads were in compliance with this subtask. During this reporting period, of 42applicable squads, 25were in compliance – that is, 25squads were supervised by either a primary or relief sergeant for at least 85% of the reporting period. As 17squads were not in compliance with this subtask, OPD is not in compliance with Task 20.2. The Department plans to add a significant number of sergeants in the near future; we look forward to monitoring how this change affects OPD’s compliance with this subtask. Task 20.3 requires that a supervisor’s span of control for the Department’s relevant squads – that is, Patrol squads, Problem-Solving Officer units, Crime Reduction Teams, Gang/Guns Investigation Task Force, and Foot Patrol – does not exceed a 1:8 ratio on a day-to-day basis (compliance standard: 90%). As noted above, the Department’s tiered system of supervision in BFO significantly affects the way in which we assess Task 20.3. During this reporting period, 16 of the 42 applicable squads were in compliance – that is, 16squads did not exceed the 1:8 supervisor to officer ratio at least 90% of the reporting period. As 26squads were not in compliance with this subtask, OPD is not in compliance with Task 20.3. Task 20.4 requires that the Department’s Area Commanders make backfill decisions and that these decisions are consistent with policy and operational needs (compliance standard: 90%). Due to the Department’s new supervisory structure, this subtask may no longer be applicable. As noted in our last quarterly report, we have initiated conversations with the Parties regarding this issue. For now, we are deferring our compliance determination with Task 20.4. Task 20.5 requires that the span of control for special operations is determined by an Area Commander and is reasonable (compliance standard: 90%). In addition, the Department requires that sergeants supervise all special operations. To assess this subtask, we reviewed a random sample of 25 special operations plans of the 90 total operations conducted between October 1, through December 31, 2013, to determine whether the span of control for these Case3:00-cv-04599-TEH Document979 Filed04/28/14 Page35 of 88