City of Cotati
Sonoma County, California
201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, CA 94931-4217 TELEPHONE 7077924600 FAX 7957067
MEMORANDUM
Date: May 10, 2022
To: Cotati City Council
From: Michael Parish, Chief of Police
Re: Status on Police Study Recommendations
This memo is intended to update the City Council and the community on the status of the Police Study recommendations.
Use of Force Review
Question: Does CPD report Use of Force incidents to the State Department of Justice (DOJ) as required by Government Code §12525.2?
Government Code §12525.2 requires reporting cases of serious use of force to DOJ, similar to what is also now required under SB 1421. This includes use of firearms, great bodily injury, etc. There were no available documents because there were no events to report.
Question: Do Cotati Police Officers receive training on the Use of Force policy? The CPD has begun incorporating annual UOF trainings into annual evaluations, in addition to the other ongoing training on de-escalation, alternatives to use of force, implicit bias, Crisis Intervention Training, and incident simulators. The CPD now also has the SAFE team as a resource and has received training from the SAFE team on how to most effectively utilize them to reduce the potential for UOF incidents.
Question: Does Cotati Police Department appropriately document incidents in which force was applied? The CPD has updated this process since the review was conducted, including requiring the officer to selfinitiate the UOF form, and transitioning from a departmental UOF form to UOF reporting integrated into the police Record Management System (RMS). The UOF report is required for any level of force above basic handcuffing, including pointing a firearm or taser at someone.
Question: In accordance with 300.9 of the CPD policy manual, does the department conduct an annual review of use of force incidents?
The UOF tracking and reporting tools added at the end of 2020, and more recently incorporated into the RMS system, will allow the CPD to readily pull annual reporting information and conduct analysis of trends and City of Cotati
Sonoma County, California
201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, CA 94931-4217 TELEPHONE 7077924600 FAX 7957067 develop training, equipment or policy recommendations. Additionally, the CPD also began collecting RIPA data in 2021, which is sent to the California Department of Justice daily for review and data validation.
Question: Does CPD have a Deadly Force Review Board, as outlined in CPD Policy 302.4 et al.? Historically, such a board has not been needed, as no deadly force incidents have occurred. Currently, the protocol in Sonoma County is that one of the 3 larger police agencies (Santa Rosa, Sheriff, or Petaluma) would respond to and investigate an officer use of deadly force. Once completed, the investigation is sent to the County District Attorney to review if criminal prosecution is warranted. Alternatively, the State Attorney General’s Office may criminally prosecute the case. Pursuant to recently enacted California Assembly Bill 1506 (AB 1506), the California Department of Justice is required to investigate all incidents of an officerinvolved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian in the state. Historically, these critical incidents in California had been primarily handled by local law enforcement agencies and the state’s 58 district attorneys.
In parallel with this criminal process, there will also be an Internal Affairs (IA) investigation of the incident. In cases where deadly force is used, this would be conducted by a third-party expert.
The purpose of the Deadly Force Review Board is to review the Officer Involved Shooting investigation (once the IA and criminal investigations are completed) and determine if changes to equipment, training, procedures, or policies are warranted.
Question: Does the Cotati Police Department participate in the FBI’s National Use of Force Data Collection program?
The CPD is currently exploring participation in this program. In California, Government Code §12525.2 requires reporting cases of serious use of force to DOJ, similar to what is also now required under SB 1421.
The FBI’s National Use of Force Data Collection program collects similar data, including the use of force that causes great bodily injury, death or shooting at a person. The CPD hasn’t had any reportable events under any of these statutes or the voluntary FBI program.
The FBI posts this data at the following website: https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/ucr/use-of-force Question: Do CPD officers receive training and certification to carry a Conducted Energy Devices? The CPD has added inspections during line up (the start of all shifts) to ensure that conducted energy devices (aka Tasers) are properly configured. During inspections, supervisors ensure that Tasers are on the nondominate side of the equipment vest or belt. With the recent Taser upgrade, all officers have received Taser training on the upgraded devices.
City of Cotati
Sonoma County, California
201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, CA 94931-4217 TELEPHONE 7077924600 FAX 7957067 Question: Are CPD officers trained and authorized to carry/use other control devices as outlined in CPD policy 308.3?
In addition to conducted energy devices (i.e. Tasers), the CPD officers may be trained and certified to carry other control devices, such as OC pepper spray and a baton. The CPD is currently testing the Bolla Wrap as another device available to restrain suspects from a distance who are non-compliant and a potential risk to themselves, the officers, or others around them. In all cases, the CPD has added an annual documented inspection process during evaluations to ensure that CPD officers are trained and certified to carry any control devices that they use.
Question: Are supervisory/management personnel trained in their responsibilities during an officer involved shooting?
The CPD has added critical incident training for all supervisors and is currently in the process of training supervisors so that our supervisors (corporals and sergeants) are well versed on how to effectively handle the various emotional, procedural, and legal issues.
Vehicle Pursuits
The CPD meets or exceeds all policies and best practices, so no modified procedures or practices are currently recommended in this high-risk activity. Officers are trained, in most cases, to not engage in high-speed pursuits to minimize the risk of injuries or property damage to the general public. The importance of this is also routinely tested during annual evaluations.
Property and Evidence
Question: Does CPD staff follow appropriate procedures for cataloging, storing, and releasing property/evidence (CPD Policy 804.3, 804.5)?
Currently, evidence is normally booked in lockers afterhours for processing the next workday. Following this audit, the CPD fully enclosed a caged area for locking larger evidence items after hours and is in the process currently of ensuring 24/7 video surveillance of the area. When complete, it will ensure fully secure and monitored storage for larger evidence items.
Items requiring refrigeration (DNA evidence, toxicology) are stored in evidence lockers and placed into refrigeration on the next business day, which meets the current evidence handling/storage requirements.
City of Cotati
Sonoma County, California
201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, CA 94931-4217 TELEPHONE 7077924600 FAX 7957067 Question: Does CPD follow established policy relative to the random and routine inspection of the property/evidence room?
The CPD has implemented inspections of evidence storage area, including monthly Sergeant inspections, unannounced annual inspections by the Police Chief, and an annual written audit by a Sergeant appointed by the Police Chief.
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