Special City Council Meeting
June 21, 2022
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Edward D. Reiskin FROM: LeRonne L. Armstrong
City Administrator Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Report On OPD Calls For Service DATE: June 14, 2022
City Administrator Approval Date: Jun 16, 2022
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive A Report And Recommendation From The City Administrator On Police Department Calls For Service Pursuant To Resolution No. 88717 C.M.S. With Recommendations For The Additional Transfer Of Certain Categories Of Non-Violent, Non-Criminal Calls For Service From The Police Department To Other Departments.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides a response from the Oakland Police Department (OPD), to the Calls for Service Analysis produced by the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) for years 2018-2020 and is provided in response to a FY 2021-23 Council Policy Directive.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The City of Oakland’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2023 BUDGET POLICY DIRECTIVES #11b requires the removal of low-level and non-violent calls for service from the police department. It reads:
Provide detailed analysis and recommendations for operationalizing the removal of low-level, non-violent calls for service from the Police Department’s responsibilities and options for an alternative response. Low-level, non-violent calls for service include what the Police Department classifies as “Administrative, Animal-related, Homeless, Mental Health, Noise-related, Ambulance Requested, and Other.”
OPD presented a report to the Public Safety Committee on February 8, 2022 for the agenda item titled below:
Receive A Report And Recommendation Directing The City Administrator To Report Back On The Implementation Of The Council Public Safety Budget Policy Directives, Including Status Of Conducting (1) An Analysis Of Calls For Service And Recommendations To Transfer Certain Calls To Alternative Response By April 2022, (2) An Independent Audit Of The Police
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Report On OPD Calls For Service
Date: June 14, 2022 Page 2
Special City Council Meeting
June 21, 2022
Department By December 2022, And (3) Analysis Of Restructuring Investigation Units To Improve Solve Rates By Increasing Civilian Staff And Reducing Sworn Staff.
OPD presented an informational report to Public Safety Committee on March 8, 2022 for an agenda item entitled:
Receive A Report And Recommendation Directing The City Administrator To Report Back On The Implementation Of The Council Public Safety Budget Policy Directives, Including Status Of Conducting (1) An Analysis Of Calls For Service And Recommendations To Transfer Certain Calls To Alternative Response By April 2022, (2) An Independent Audit Of The Police Department By December 2022, And (3) Analysis Of Restructuring Investigation Units To Improve Solve Rates By Increasing Civilian Staff And Reducing Sworn Staff.
OPD contracted with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) to conduct a comprehensive analysis for calls for service for 2018-2020. The scope of the study was described in an informational memorandum dated November 12, 2021. OPD received a draft of the NICJR report (Attachment A) and provided comments.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
As noted several times in the NICJR report, OPD’s outdated computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system provided data that limited the accuracy and depth of the subsequent analyses. • Initial call types are captured but can be changed during or following a call for service. If initial call types were stored and later compared to final call types, a more meaningful analysis of the perceived and actual need for police response could be made. While CAD has disposition codes indicating the resolution of the incident, this does not capture the nature of the incident.
• On scene times are inconsistently entered or recorded in CAD and limited the response time and time spent on call analyses. Reopening an incident changes the closure time of an incident and affects the calculation of time spent on scene. • The number of officers on scene captured in CAD does not appear correct as it is limited to only four names. Because many scenes have more than four officers, the number of officers appears to be underreported.
• CAD incidents with on-scene times have units assigned, but these units include personnel such as OPD Police Service Technicians (non-sworn) and Oakland Housing Authority Units. This impacts the types and numbers of calls that appear to be assigned to OPD sworn personnel, even though OPD sworn personnel were not assigned. • Due to the data issues stated above, assumptions had to be made and the exclusion of data had to occur. NICJR consulted with OPD staff for clarification of data such as incident types, disposition codes, and categorization of call types. The data cleaning should be revisited by the NICJR team so these steps are clearly documented and understood because they impact the interpretation of the findings; NICJR staff did consult with OPD staff regarding some of the CAD data, but these talks should be revisited and expanded in the next iteration of this process.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Report On OPD Calls For Service
Date: June 14, 2022 Page 3
Special City Council Meeting
June 21, 2022
Further Analysis Needed
Further analysis of “non-criminal” and “on-view” categories is needed to determine the need for the type of response required. Each category contains call types that can be handled by non- sworn members of the OPD and call types that can be diverted to non-OPD resources. Using the call types, priority, and dispositions codes in the CAD data, one can get an initial indication, but merging that information with police report and crime data provides a fuller picture. Because there are numerous call types and they can vary within a single type, each call type should be evaluated individually to decide the best approach for response. This granular analysis was more time-consuming and resource intensive than intended at the onset of this study.
The study used three years of CAD data to group and count incidents based on initiation source, call type, response time, time on scene, and other measures. While there are many tables and charts displaying the results of the incident counts, data cleanliness negatively affected the ability to analyze the significance of the observations. Furthermore, considering the primary purpose of the study was to identify calls for service that could be diverted to non-OPD resources, more effort is needed to delve into how the findings in the report could help OPD reduce the number of calls requiring a response.
Despite the data challenges and the need for further work, the current Analysis provides several recommendations that are worth consideration. OPD is currently developing a new CAD and reporting system expected to deploy in late 2022. OPD is also constantly looking for opportunities to leverage resources to free up sworn personnel to address violent crime and conduct follow-up criminal investigations. With that said, OPD’s patrol function is staffed at minimum staffing currently and patrol officers perform important functions that need to continue to have staff assigned, regardless of the types of calls that may ultimately be diverted or otherwise addressed by the City.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was deemed necessary for this report beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures.
COORDINATION
The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) conducted an analysis of OPD’s calls for service for the years 2018-2020.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: There are no economic opportunities associated with this report.
Environmental: There are no environmental opportunities associated with this report.
Race & Equity: OPD staffing and subsequent response times directly impact the ability to support public safety and the quality of life of all Oakland residents and visitors.
Edward D. Reiskin, City Administrator
Subject: Report On OPD Calls For Service
Date: June 14, 2022 Page 4
Special City Council Meeting
June 21, 2022
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive A Report And Recommendation From The City Administrator On Police Department Calls For Service Pursuant To Resolution No. 88717 C.M.S. With Recommendations For The Additional Transfer Of Certain Categories Of Non- Violent, Non-Criminal Calls For Service From The Police Department To Other Departments.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Deputy Chief Clifford Wong, [email protected].
Reviewed by:
Darren Allison, Assistant Chief
OPD, Office of the Chief
Clifford Wong, Deputy Chief
OPD, Bureau of Risk Management
Prepared by:
Tracey Jones, Police Services Manager
OPD, Bureau of Services
Attachments (1)
A: National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform Analysis of OPD Calls for Service 2018- 2020