1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: October 1, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council and
Members of the Police Commission
FROM: Justin Hess, City Manager
Joseph H. McDougall, City Attorney
Michael Albanese, Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Review of 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 (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 enforcem ent 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: uses of deadly force and in- custody deaths; bias based policing complaints; 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 provide that OIR be available to attend Critical Incident Review Board (CIRB) meetings on major incidents, and that OIR receive and review updates on CITY MANAGER’S
OFFICE
2 other Department internal review mechanisms, including but not limited to, the Department’s quarterly discipline reports and its annual early intervention audit of high- volume officers in certain key categories. OIR also 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, or body worn and in-car camera program.
Pursuant to the Agreement, OIR present s its report in a joint meeting with the City Manager, City Attorney and Chief of Police. 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 Department shortly after the Department’s adoption of the 2011 Strategic Plan. At that time, the monitoring was 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, OIR's evaluation of the Department’s various internal review systems have evolved in scope and complexity. One constant, however, has been OIR’s acknowledgment of the Department’s willingness to be responsive to new expectations and a commitment to generating its own initiatives in accountability and community outreach.
The OIR’s annual report for 2023 evaluated a range of misconduct investigations, critical incidents, use of force incidents, vehicle pursuits, and conducted an evaluation of the Racial Identity Profiling Act audit. While the report was generally positive, it did identify some individual shortcomings and more general opportunities for improvement among the many cases evaluated. OIR provided 14 separate recommendations for consideration in this report. Attachment 2 is a memorandum from the Police Chief outlining the Department’s response to the 14 recommendations.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This report has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and as such, is not a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 14 Cal. Code Regs § 15378.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
CONCLUSION
As reflected in both reports, the Burbank Police Department is actively implementing progressive policing best practices and remains on the forefront of policing excellence and contemporary public safety services.
3 ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Annual Report of the Independent Police Monitor: 2023 Review by OIR Group
Attachment 2 – Memorandum from Burbank Police Chief Albanese in Response to the OIR Group Recommendations