seventeenth-quarterly-report.pdf

Seventeenth Quarterly Report of the Independent Monitor for the Oakland Police Department April 28, 2014 Page 78 an initial training program. The Department recently recruited a new PET and was conducting interviews to hire as many as four additional PETs. New PETs are trained on-the-job, but OPD had no fixed training requirements or program for either initial or continuing job training. There was not even a checklist of topics in which new employees are to be trained to guide the process. We reviewed the training records for each of the 12 then current PETs, and found five lacking adequate training. The first five columns in the chart below show total hours received in 2012 and to mid-September in 2013; and evidence-related training (legal, investigative, and evidence training) and our judgment as to its adequacy. In our last report, we observed that only seven (58%) of the 12 PETs had received adequate training in 2012 and through September 2013. In this review we found that four of the five PETs that we determined lacked adequate training have been scheduled for a significant DNA Training Course in April and May 2014. The fifth PET that we identified has left the PET program and is now assigned other duties. Results of On-Site Survey November 2013 February 2014 PET 2013 2012 EVIDENCE RELATED TRAINING EVALUATION (ADEQUATE/ INADEQUATE) 24 HOUR SCHEDULED DNA TRAINING PET 1 2.5 21 4 INADEQUATE 4/15-17/2014 PET 2 3 34 31.5 ADEQUATE PET 3 44.5 7.5 47.5 ADEQUATE 5/13-15/2014 PET 4 81.5 85 139 ADEQUATE PET 5 2.5 3.5 0 INADEQUATE 4/22-24/2014 PET 6 2 1 0 INADEQUATE PET 7 42 33 44 ADEQUATE PET 8 43 13 7.5 INADEQUATE 4/22-24/2014 PET 9 26 61.5 35.5 ADEQUATE PET 10 1 10 0 INADEQUATE 5/13-15/2014 PET 11 53 29 61.5 ADEQUATE 5/13-15/2014 PET 12 29.5 21 28 ADEQUATE There are currently 13 Police Evidence Technicians (PET) employed with the Oakland Police Department. OPD has recently taken several steps to develop a plan to ensure its PETs receive ongoing job training, including enrolling PETs in POST-certified courses on crime scene investigation and evidence recovery, and DNA evidence; developing a PET field training program manual; and exploring the possibility of offering training by Crime Lab personnel. Given the critical nature of the job performed by PETs in support of OPD investigations and crime reduction efforts, the lack of training for technicians is a serious matter. OPD is making progress in developing this training for its PETs. We will continue to monitor this issue closely. Case3:00-cv-04599-TEH Document979 Filed04/28/14 Page79 of 88