1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: September 27, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council and
Members of the Police Commission
FROM: Justin Hess, City Manager
Joseph McDougall, City Attorney
Michael Albanese, Police Chief
SUBJECT: Report from the Office of Independent Review Group Monitoring the Burbank Police Department
RECOMMENDATION
Note and file Office of Independent Review Group’s Report (Attachment 1).
BACKGROUND
The Office of Independent Review Group (OIR) has served under contract as the “Outside Independent Monitor” of the Burbank Police Department since 2012. The current agreement was executed in May 2021 following a Request for Proposal process and has a term of five years, expiring in May 2026. The agreement calls for OIR to annually review and report on certain pre- specified types of law enforcement incidents and/or internal affairs investigations, as well as perform other related audit reviews. The purpose of these oversight services is to assess the adequacy of the Department’s investigation into an incident, and appropriateness of the findings and action taken by the Department in response to an investigation and make recommendations as to procedures. OIR is to review and report on the following types of investigations conducted by the Department:
all uses of deadly force and in- custody deaths; all bias based policing complaints; all administrative investigations in which the employee under investigation is the rank of sergeant or higher; and a random sample of administrative investigations, citizens’ complaints and use of force reviews. OIR also makes a formal assessment of all vehicle pursuits.
The contractual services also provide that OIR be available to attend Critical Incident Review Board (CIRB) meetings on major incidents, and that OIR receive and review updates on other Department internal review mechanisms, including but not limited to Department’s quarterly discipline reports and its annual early intervent ion audit of high- CITY MANAGER’S
OFFICE
2 volume officers in certain key categories. As well, OIR performs one audit project per year on a revolving list of subjects, such as hiring or promotional processes, performance evaluations, Department in- house training, review of management level emails, body worn and in-car camera program.
Pursuant to the Agreement, OIR presents its report in a joint meeting with the City Manager, City Attorney and Chief of Police. This meeting took place in September 2022.
Thereafter, the report is to be presented in a joint public meeting of the City Council and Police Commission.
DISCUSSION
OIR began its formal monitoring of the Police Department shortly after the Department’s adoption of the 2011 Strategic Plan. At that time the monitoring was considered more remedial in nature. The adoption of the Strategic Plan and outside oversight was partly in response to allegations of excessive use of force and the appointment of new command staff to initiate reforms in the Department.
Since then, OI R's evaluation of BPD’s various internal review systems have evolved in scope and complexity. One constant, however, has been OIR’s acknowledgment of BPD’s “ willingness to be responsive to new expectations and a commitment to generating its own initiatives in accountability and community outreach.”
This report covers incidents that occurred in 2020 and 2021. OIR evaluated the Department’s administrative response in one officer involved shooting fatality, a range of misconduct investigations, use of force incidents, vehicle pursuits, and conducted audits of the body worn camera program, as well as a random sampling of arrest cases. While the report was generally positive, it did identify some individual shortcomings and more general opportunities for improvement among the many cases evaluated.
There are 21 separate recommendations in this report. Attachment 2 is a memo from the Police Chief outlining the Department’s response to these 21 recommendations.
As in the past, on September 27, 2022, OIR will present its reports at a special joint meeting of the City Council and Police Commission and afford members o f each an opportunity to ask questions concerning the Report.
CONCLUSION
As reflected in both reports, the Department is employing best practices in progressive policing and continues on its road to achieving the “gold standard” of policing.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Annual Report of the Independent Police Monitor: 2020-2021 Review by OIR Group, July 2022
Attachment 2 – Police Chief’s Memo re Recommendations