combined-10th-11th-report.pdf

Negotiated Settlement Agreement, Combined Tenth and Eleventh Semi-Annual Report December 2008 Task 25: Use of Force Investigation and Report Responsibilities e Settlement Agreement Section V. B; page 19, line13 — page 21, line 16 (lead-in page 18, lines 11-12) e Assigned Unit: BFO Settlement Agreement Language “By July 20, 2004, OPD must develop and implement a policy for conducting use of force investigations.” Status: In Policy, Training, and Partial Practice Compliance Deliverables e Revised Departmental General Order K-3, The Use of Force (1 Aug 07) Revised Departmental General Order K-4, Reporting the Use of Force (1 Aug 07) Revised Departmental General Order K-4.1, Jnvestigating the Use of Force (1 Aug 07) Training Bulletin III-H, Specialty Impact Munitions (26 Jul 06) Departmental General Order K-4, Reporting and Investigation Use of Force (1 Aug 07) Report Writing Manual U-1, Use of Force Reports (20 Aug 07) Implementation Activities The Use of Force policies were published on February 18, 2006. Under these new policies, Use of Force investigative packets now contain detailed information that previously was not consistently available. This has resulted in better, more complete investigations and a review process that can take into account all information when determining the appropriateness of uses of force. However, in many cases, it has taken multiple hours, over several days, for supervisors to complete the required reports. As they become more proficient at Use of Force Investigations, the time to complete the reports should decrease. IMT Audit Summary During the current reporting period, the IMT conducted a review of Task 25 and found OPD to be in partial compliance. 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%. The IMT found that OPD is doing a very good job in 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. Task 25.2 requires OPD to investigate any use of force in a timely manner and include specific elements in the Use of Force Reports (i.c. supplemental reports/statements from all personnel on the scene at the time of incident, consideration of discrepancies, and documentation and analysis of evidence). OPD is not in compliance with this requirement. Only 21% of the investigations the IMT reviewed met the timeline requirements. The average compliance rate for the nine 53