combined-10th-11th-report.pdf

Negotiated Settlement Agreement, Combined Tenth and Eleventh Semi-Annual Report December 2008 5. Sergeants and commanders receive 40-hours in-service supervisory and leadership training before (for sergeants) or within six months of (for commanders) promotion (43.3). 6. All members receive 40 hours of training every 18 months (43.4). 7. Sergeants receive at least 20 hours of supervisory training every 18 months (43.4.1). 8. Commanders receive at least 20 hours of commander training every 18 months (43.3.2). The IMT found that OPD was not in compliance with three important requirements: 1. Ensuring that certain OPD officers and employees are adequately trained for their positions and trained to use the most contemporary developments in policing (43.1.1). 2. Establishing criteria and methods for selecting, training, evaluating, and maintaining records for OPD training instructors (43.1.3). 3. Reviewing the complaint history of every in-service or Academy training instructor prior to appointment to ensure that instructors are supportive of the philosophy and values of the Department and have not had a sustained Class I offense within the two years prior to appointment (43.5). While the IMT praised portions of OPD training as “exemplary” for exceeding California’s statewide standards for law enforcement training in several areas, and noted that the Department has committed substantial resources to improving and updating its training in recent years, it concluded that OPD still needs to improve in some areas—most importantly in how it selects, retains, and evaluates training instructors. Overall, the IMT labeled the quality of training observed during this audit as “uneven.” In some instances, good training materials that had been painstakingly developed were unused and replaced with ineffective or substandard training. In addition, too many officers had not received the required amount of perishable skills training at the required frequency (every 24 months). The IMT called this a “significant deficiency” because perishable skills training is directly related to officer safety, focusing on issues such as tactical firearms, arrest and control procedures, tactical communications, and driving. 75