fourteenth-report.pdf

Independent Monitoring Team Fourteenth Status Report of the Independent Monitor Delphine Allen, et al., v. City of Oakland, et al. July 31, 2009 to January 13, 2010 Page 56 b. Status of Compliance and Assessment The compliance deadline for this task occurred in July 2004. During the eighth reporting period, OPD completed its primary use of force policies, and trained over 95% of relevant personnel on these policies. OPD’s commitment to this project enabled it to complete both the policies and training by the court-ordered deadlines. General Order K-4, Reporting and Investigating the Use of Force, and General Order K-4.1, Force Review Boards incorporate the Settlement Agreement’s requirements for this task. OPD had previously published a compliant policy, Special Order 8066, Use of Force Reports-Witness Identification, relating to one discrete component of this task. OPD incorporated the provisions of this Special Order into the use of force policies. During the tenth reporting period, OPD negotiated several changes to the NSA’s use of force provisions and revised the K-series policies to reflect these changes and streamline its use of force reporting and investigation process. In addition, some of the compliance standards for this task were lowered from 95% to 90%. As noted above, the IMT worked closely with OPD and the Plaintiffs’ Attorneys to ensure that these revisions addressed OPD’s operational and efficiency concerns while continuing to facilitate the proper reporting and investigation of use of force. Like the new use of force reporting policies, the new use of force investigation policies represent a significant improvement over prior policy. Consistent with contemporary law enforcement standards, the new policies require OPD supervisors to respond to the field when officers use certain types of force and to review these incidents for consistency with the law and OPD policies, procedures, and training. Supervisors are also required to assess whether officers used proper tactics; reasonable verbal means to attempt to resolve incidents without force where possible; and whether the force was de-escalated or stopped when appropriate. During the eleventh reporting period, the IMT worked closely with OPD to assist in its implementation of the revised use of force investigation processes. The IMT provided training to OPD supervisors and commanders regarding use of force investigations and responded to the field to observe supervisors’ on-scene handling of incidents. We observed training sessions of commanders regarding the new policies and procedures and attended force review boards. During the eleventh reporting period, the IMT conducted a compliance assessment of Task 25. Task 25.1 requires that Internal Affairs complete use of force reports in the most serious use of force cases including officer-involved shooting cases and other uses of force that result in or create a substantial risk of death or serious injury. For all other uses of force, depending on the level of force used, on-scene supervisors or officers are required to complete use of force reports. The compliance standard for this requirement is 95%. As discussed above, OPD is doing a very good job adjusting to the new use of force policies. Use of force reports were completed as required by Task 25.1 in 98% of the cases we reviewed. In addition to requiring that force be reported, Task 25 requires OPD to conduct timely investigations into the force used by its officers. We found that this is an area in need of significant improvement. The compliance standard for this requirement is 90%. However, only