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 3 rights, dignity, and property of the Oakland community. But the fact that it is not there yet should not detract from the hard-fought and significant gains the Police Department has made over the past seven years. Officers are better trained and provided greater and more consistent guidance and supervision than they were seven years ago. Where previously it was not unusual for 15 or more patrol officers to be “supervised” by one sergeant, it is now highly unusual for a sergeant to supervise more than eight officers. The implementation of NSA requirements for both academy and in-service training, as well as the Field Training Program, has meant that the hundreds of new officers who have begun since the initiation of the Settlement Agreement have been trained in many of the best practices in policing. Supervisors are also better trained and better equipped to supervise their officers. Where it was previously not uncommon for sergeants to serve months or years before receiving supervisory training, it is now unheard of for a sergeant to begin supervising a squad before completing supervisory training. The innovative early identification and intervention system known as IPAS, a Settlement requirement that was initially feared, has made supervisors more effective. IPAS is now not only accepted within OPD, it is appreciated. Use of force reporting and investigation, which was almost non-existent seven years ago, is now robust and continues to improve. In its acceptance and investigation of civilian complaints about officer misconduct, OPD is quite simply a different department. Where five years ago the IMT found several hundreds of complaints that were never investigated, OPD now investigates every complaint and its investigations of complaints continue to improve. These and other Settlement Agreement requirements have also encouraged the strengthening of police-community relationships. It is now routine for patrol officers to attend community meetings at least once per quarter, a NSA requirement that was bitterly resented at the outset. More Oakland police officers are now involved in problem-solving approaches to policing, which rely on close interaction with the community and direct response to community concerns. For the second year in a row, the Department has reported that the crime rate in Oakland has fallen. In 2009, OPD reported that crime decreased 10 percent, and that homicides fell at an even greater rate. In a recent news report discussing this drop in crime, the commander of OPD’s Homicide Section was quoted as saying that investigators are “developing more trust with victims’ families and witnesses.” The reasons for changes in crime rates are complex and controversial, and, of course, police officers must respect constitutional and other legal rights regardless of any perceived impact on crime rates. Nonetheless, this recent downtrend, particularly in the rate of homicides, and its correlation with building better relationships with community members, bolsters what supporters of the Negotiated Settlement Agreement have said since its inception: that the reforms required by the Negotiated Settlement Agreement are not inconsistent with effective policing, but rather are required for the City of Oakland and the Oakland Police Department to better protect the “lives, rights, dignity, and property” of the entire Oakland community.