ninth-report.pdf

Independent Monitoring Team Ninth Status Report of the Independent Monitor Delphine Allen, et al., v. City of Oakland, et al. May 13, 2006, to November 30, 2006 Page 72 1. Field Training Program (Task 42; S.A. VIII.) a. Settlement Agreement Requirements • By April 16, 2004, OPD must develop and implement a plan to enhance its Field Training Program. This plan must address: the criteria and method for selecting Field Training Officers (“FTOs”); the training provided to FTOs to perform their duty; the supervision and evaluation of FTOs; the length of time that trainee officers spend in the program; and the methods by which FTOs assess and evaluate trainee officers in field training. The Settlement Agreement sets forth extensive requirements that must be part of this new Field Training Program. b. Status of Compliance and Assessment The compliance deadline for this task occurred in April, 2004. OPD published General Order B-8, Field Training Program, at the beginning of the seventh reporting period. The IMT reviewed the policy and found that it complies with the Settlement Agreement. During the seventh reporting period, OPD also provided the IMT with sufficiently reliable training data to enable us to confirm that OPD had trained 95% or more of relevant personnel on this policy. During the seventh reporting period, the IMT evaluated whether OPD’s actual practices comply with Task 42. We determined that although OPD had not yet fully complied with the requirements of Task 42, it had made substantial and impressive progress. Moreover, throughout the course of our first review of Task 42, as shortcomings were identified OPD took immediate steps to remediate deficiencies. Based on our review, we made several additional recommendations to OPD focusing on improving the FTO selection process; ensuring anonymity for trainee evaluations; and improving supervisory review of FTO evaluations. A fuller description of this audit is included in our seventh status report. During this reporting period, we conducted a second audit of the Field Training Program. Task 42.1 defines the role and responsibilities of the Field Training Program Coordinator (FTPC). OPD is in compliance with this task. Since the inception of the Settlement Agreement, an officer has served as the FTPC on a full-time basis. As we reported in our last audit of this task, this officer is a talented, well-respected officer who is conscientious, organized, and thoughtful. We continue to be impressed by his strong leadership skills and the steps he has continued to take to modernize, standardize, and improve OPD’s Field Training Program.