combined-10th-11th-report.pdf

Negotiated Settlement Agreement, Combined Tenth and Eleventh Semi-Annual Report December 2008 members/employees on the scene. 2. In situations in which there are no known witnesses, the report shall specifically state this fact. Policy shall further require that in situations in which witnesses were present but circumstances prevented the author of the report from determining the identification or phone number or address of those witnesses, the report shall state the reasons why the member/employee was unable to obtain that information. Reports shall also include the names of all other members/employees of OPD witnessing the incident.” Status: In Policy, Training, and Partial Practice Compliance Policy: Special Order 8066, Use of Force — Witness Identification, was published on December 23, 2003. However, in February 2004, the IMT determined that the term “when applicable” as referenced in two sections of the Order did not provide specific guidelines of when officers must take statements from witnesses. The Department agreed, revised the Order to remove the ambiguity, and published a revised Special Order on April 1, 2004. The provisions of Special Order 8066 were folded into the published versions of DGO’s K-4 and K-4.1. Deliverables e Revised Departmental General Order K-4, Reporting the Use of Force ¢ Revised Departmental General Order K-4.1, Investigating the Use of Force ¢ Special Order 8066, Use of Force — Witness Identification IMT Audit Summary Compliance standards for this task were lowered in the tenth reporting period from 95% to 85% or 90%, During this reporting period, the IMT continued to work with OPD in this area, and upon completing a formal compliance assessment of Task 35, found the Department in partial compliance. Task 35.1 requires use of force reports to include the name, telephone number, and address of witnesses to use of force incidents when such information is reasonably available to the members/employees on the scene. Task 35.2 requires that use of force reports document when there are no known witnesses. The compliance standard for these requirements is 90%, The IMT noted that while OPD is not yet in compliance with this task, it has seen substantial improvement: 83% of cases reviewed included all of the required contact information or sufficient information to contact the witnesses should it be necessary (e.g., if a phone number was missing but the name and address were documented, the IMT considered the case compliant) and/or stated when there were no known witnesses to the incident. Task 35.3 requires that when witnesses are present but circumstances prevent the investigator from obtaining their identification, phone number, or address, the use of force report document the reasons why such information was not obtained. Since only five of nine of the investigations (56%) included documentation of the reasons why witness information was not obtained, the IMT found OPD not yet in compliance with this task. Task 35.4 requires OPD to include in use of force reports the names of all OPD personnel who witness the incident. OPD is in compliance with this requirement. Based on the use of force reports and investigative files, all of the cases reviewed included the names of OPD members 66