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 4 IAD offices appear professional, orderly, and secure. We no longer see case files piled up in corners or under desks. IAD files are similarly clearer and better document the considerable work put into each internal investigation. Investigators’ taped conversations with complainants are courteous and professional, an impression bolstered by nearly every conversation we had with citizen complainants and the many references we saw in case files to citizens' expressing gratitude for IAD's assistance in resolving misunderstandings or explaining service concerns. It is evident that more than one complainant has had a negative impression of OPD turned around by his or her positive interactions with the investigators or intake officers within IAD. Investigators generally contact complainants promptly and make repeated efforts to contact complainants to learn the details of their complaints or follow up on previous conversations. Supervisors and commanders follow up on informally resolved complaints and complaints that are withdrawn to ensure that the complainant was not unduly pressured into resolving the complaint. Witness canvasses have become routine, and statements from officers and other witnesses are generally taped, sometimes by Sergeants who take recorders into the field to tape statements while the parties to the complaint are still on scene. IAD and OPD commanders regularly monitor internal investigation timeliness with weekly reports distributed Department-wide, email reminders of cases near critical deadlines, discussions of timeliness and overdue cases in Departmental command-level meetings, and accountability for commanders who fail to ensure compliance with § 3304. OPD has implemented systems that ensure that every complaint made to IAD, whether by OPD personnel, phone, letter or third party, is processed, ensuring that no repeat of the uninvestigated cases database will occur. These efforts are only some examples of IAD’s extensive efforts to self-identify and correct problems. There is, of course, work that remains to be done. It should not be surprising that OPD did not resolve all of the lingering problems within its internal investigations system in one reporting period. In some areas it appears that it is just a matter of a little more time; in other areas, IAD still needs to grapple with difficult issues to ensure that necessary changes are implemented and sustained. In addition, there is the risk that a lack of continued effort will cause OPD to backslide. Nevertheless, while OPD still has not attained the required levels of compliance with many of the NSA's requirements regarding investigative processes and timeliness, there is no question that the improvement within IAD is real and is having a significant positive impact on the quality of investigations and accountability within OPD. We commend OPD and IAD for its efforts and challenge OPD to recreate this success in other aspects of NSA reform. Field Training Program Upon graduation from the police academy, each new OPD officer is assigned to a Field Training Officer (FTO). These assignments are designed to assist new officers in becoming proficient in patrol duties and able to work successfully as independent police officers. While the oft-repeated statement that field training officers in departments