1. SCOPE OF SERVICES
A) A SUMMARY OF THE METHODOLOGY TO BE USED FOR THE WORK SPECIFIED IN SECTION IV.
Mr. Schlanger and the IntegrAssure team are ready to hit the ground running with respect to the implementation of the IPA. During the entire length of the engagement, as Project Lead, Mr. Schlanger will be accessible to City and Department personnel, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
PROGRAM START-UP
Starting up a program such as the IPA, as the City has thoughtfully envisioned it, takes insightful planning and a process that is designed for efficiency and success. Mr. Schlanger and his team have extensive experience in the implementation and management of similar initiatives in both the public and private sectors. This experience will be extremely helpful in providing the blueprint for efficient and effective implementation of IPA for the City and in setting the right tone and preventing missteps so as to achieve the desired outcomes in the shortest time.
Critical to the start-up process is a series of first-week post-award meetings with appropriate the San Leandro Police Department (SLPD), city and community stakeholders, and the Board. These meetings would serve as both orientation and goal setting and would provide the team with a fulsome appreciation of any particular challenges facing SLPD. During these meetings we would spend a significant portion of time with SLPD leadership and staff, specifically with Internal Affairs, understanding the current state of the quality and timeliness of administrative investigations, as well as challenges they face. We would come to understand current workflow including supervisory review and any additional quality assurance processes. We would review all pertinent documentation including the most recent policies, procedures, training materials and gain a full appreciation of current practices. Protocols for the IPA interface with SLPD, including transfer of investigative files for review and related documents, would be developed and refined during this first week.
In addition, we would want to fully understand the current workflow for citizen complaints, existing protocols for rollouts and reviews on critical incidents including officer-involved shootings, and the workflow of the disciplinary system. We would also be meeting with those responsible for policy formulation and training in order to understand the current state and plans for future revisions.
We will use this time to meet individually and collectively with the members of the Board to establish strong relationships with them and to gain insight on the priorities from the Board’s on what they hope to receive trainings on as well as define the ideal role of the IPA for the Board to assist in planning out the first year of engagement appropriately for the Board.
Perhaps most importantly, during the first week of this engagement, Mr. Schlanger and team members will meet with senior SLPD staff, including supervisors and staff in order to establish the best possible working relationship. Nothing is more important to the success of the program than a good working relationship. This is especially true when oversight is involved. Those being overseen are sometimes understandably defensive and being able to overcome these reactions will, at least partially, determine the success of the IPA. In the best case, members of the SLPD will recognize and respect the role which the IPA will be playing and will welcome the program for what it is meant to be and achieve: the best police department that San Leandro residents can have.
While the first week’s meetings are always crucial to the success of a project, on-going dialogue and interaction with the parties, and refinement of protocols and processes are likewise extremely important.
As such, we would expect that there would be frequent interaction between the IPA team and SLPD personnel throughout the life of the assignment.
Additional initial steps beyond the first week meetings would be focused on drilling down in a number of different areas so as to enable each of the tasks delineated in the scope of work to be performed in the best possible fashion.
COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD
The IPA team will work closely with the Board to receive community feedback and complaints that the Board deems appropriate for the IPA to review. The IPA team will prepare reports for the Board regarding personnel discipline and complaints, critical incidents, police department policies, and other law enforcement matters. The IPA will assist the Board in evaluating police department policies of compelling community-wide concern by providing trends and data on topics deemed necessary by a majority of the Board. The IPA team will assist the Board with the preparation of the Board’s annual report including their workplan. The IPA team will also provide training to the Board upon request, including Public Records Act requirements, Public Safety Office Procedural Bill of Rights, internal affairs investigation, and officer involved shootings investigation. In each of these tasks, IntegrAssure has deep expertise and will utilize that expertise in providing advice and assistance to the Board. Team members will, of course, be present for each of the Board meetings, either virtually or in person. We will make every effort to coordinate onsite presence with Board meetings, so as to be able to attend at least some of those meetings in person.
ADMINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATIONS
With respect to administrative investigations, the IPA team will be discussing with Internal Affairs staff the methodology that will be employed in conducting reviews of their investigations. We will be discussing workflow and how we will assess the quality and timeliness of each investigation including that we would be reviewing to make certain that all appropriate witnesses to an event were interviewed, that all available evidence, including available body-worn camera video, was obtained and considered, and that an appropriate adjudication of the allegation was made by applying the appropriate evidentiary standard to all available evidence. This process will help foster a culture of continuous improvement in the Department through the identification of potential ancillary issues relative to tactics and conduct of officers, which may not reach the level of substantiated misconduct1 . We will also be reviewing
supervisory oversight in each incident to determine whether the supervision was adequate and appropriate. Additionally, the IPA team will regularly assess the SLPD complaint database to evaluate the complaint classification based on the nature of the complaints and evaluate whether investigation timelines are being met and other related compliance issues.
The IPA team will attempt to understand the staff’s view of any shortcomings in the process. We anticipate that we would be working with IA throughout our tenure, and after our initial meetings would be discussing, on an on-going basis, any changes to the process which would result in process improvement.
If the investigation was conducted by an external investigator, the IPA team will also provide input into the scope of work of the investigator.
Moreover, we will be reviewing the disciplinary system to determine whether, with respect to any substantiated misconduct case, appropriate discipline is being utilized to both correct behavior and ultimately protect the City from potential liability. This will require reviewing the involved officer’s disciplinary records to assess whether the level of discipline assessed balanced and prior misconduct with the gravity of the misconduct.
In preparation for the written evaluation, when there is a question over the final conclusion, including the appropriate level of discipline, the IPA team will confer among themselves and with the Internal Affairs staff to make sure differing perspectives are considered. In any instance in which we believe there are additional investigative steps that should be taken or disagree with findings and/or discipline, we will make that fact known. To the extent that any further investigation is required, we will make such recommendation to those working on the matter, and if necessary, to the Police Chief or their designee.
In any case in which such recommendation is not accepted, we will, after discussion with the Police Chief, make such recommendation in writing to the City Manager.
Throughout this process, it is inevitable certain trends will emerge regarding specific violations and/or uses of force. These trends will be identified and discussed with appropriate parties in a timely manner to provide prompt remediation as necessary.
During this process, when appropriate, a team member will attend administrative investigative interviews and ask relevant questions to the witnesses to obtain critical pieces of the investigation when necessary, in a manner that will not disrupt the timeliness or violate the Public Safety Officer’s Procedural Bill of Rights Act (“POBOR”).
1 See Additional Services – Early Intervention section below.
OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS AND OTHER CRITICAL INCIDENTS:
The IPA team will review SLPD’s investigation of any officer-involved shootings, regardless of whether a person was hit by gunfire, to determine if the investigation was complete, thorough, objective, and fair.
In conducting this review, we will engage with appropriate experts on the team to provide the most appropriate and comprehensive review of, what are invariably, a very complex set of facts and factors. In addition, we will review all other critical incidents, including deaths or great bodily injury of individuals in custody, or through a use of force, or as a result of a police-involved traffic collision. For these incidents, with prompt notification from the SLPD, a local member of the team will, when deemed appropriate, respond to the scene and prioritize timely evaluation of these investigations.
The process for these incidents will entail a review all pertinent evidence and statements, including bodyworn camera footage, all relevant official data and documentation, and noting any omission in evidence collection or documentation. With respect to the investigation, we will note any deviations from standard operating procedures or training.
To the extent that any further investigation is required, we will make such recommendation to those working on the matter, and if necessary, to the Police Chief or his designee. In any case in which such recommendation is not accepted, we will, after discussion with the Police Chief, make such recommendation in writing to the City Manager and, if so authorized, investigate the matter independently.
CITIZEN COMPLAINTS
The IPA team will review all civilian complaints and determine whether an independent investigation should be conducted of such complaint when that complaint involves allegations of excessive force, violation of civil rights, or other wrongful conduct. In conducting this investigation, we will work with the Department to obtain all relevant evidence and will interview civilian witness or complainants. We will also request relevant documents from SLPD, including all body-worn camera recordings and mandated forms for the incident. If an investigation’s findings indicate misconduct, we will establish a protocol to ensure that appropriate treatment within the disciplinary system is followed. We will also discuss with the Department the role of mediation in this process as it can be an effective tool for better understanding of each other’s perspectives.
RECEIPT OF CASES
The IPA team will work with SLPD to prepare and design a documented process that sends notice to the IPA of all complaints, classification of complaints and assigned investigator to ensure accurate and timely notifications. These notifications will include timely notifications on critical incidents to provide the IPA team the ability to observe the scene at the IPA’s discretion. These critical incidents will include officerinvolved shootings, a traffic collision involving police officers that result in death or serious bodily injury to another person, a use of force resulting in death or serious bodily injury to another person, and all deaths while an arrestee/detainees is in the custodial care of the police department.
THE AUDIT OF SLPD MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT AND DISCIPLINE PROCESS Our IPA team will be assessing the disciplinary system to determine whether cases are being resolved fairly and with appropriate levels of discipline as well as auditing the complaint database to regularly assess how complaints are classified and whether investigation timelines are met. To this end, we will be discussing the system with relevant stakeholders, determining the manner in which determinations of punishment are arrived at, and will report on any improvements to the process that we think would be appropriate.
AUDITS OF SLPD POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND TRAINING
Similar to the audit of complaints and discipline, our IPA team will be assessing policies, procedures and training in each of the following areas.
SLPD STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
The IPA team will audit SLPD’s efforts in meeting the Strategic Plan goals, including goals with regard to training on procedural justice, the Guardian mindset, implicit/unconscious bias, and de-escalation. In this ongoing audit, the IPA team will not just review whether certain trainings have been implemented and completed but rather those trainings’ effect on officer performance to provide insight into the overall goal of improving SLPD is being realized.
COMPLIANCE WITH RIPA REQUIREMENTS
In auditing SLPD’s compliance with the California Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 (RIPA) requirements, the IPA team will monitor SLPD’s stop data and other relevant data points to report on SLPD’s compliance with the mandates of RIPA.
BIASED POLICING
In addition to reporting on RIPA compliance, we will be auditing to determine whether any SLPD enforcement actions are based on impermissible uses of personal characteristics such as to indicate that an individual officer or officers are engaged in biased policing. We will discuss with relevant stakeholders the degree to which continuous monitoring of data can being used to mitigate potential biased policing or claims thereof. In doing so, we are keenly aware that disparities in demographic composition of those involved in police action alone is not necessarily indicative of biased policing.
USE OF FORCE
The IPA team will also audit use of force data, including taser usage, both for accuracy in reporting and classification, for use in potential early intervention at the supervisory level and for any noteworthy trends. This will include audits of supervisory review of uses of force. We will discuss with relevant stakeholders the degree to which continuous monitoring of data can be used to mitigate potential excessive uses of force or claims thereof.
BODY CAMERA USAGE
The IPA will also audit body camera usage by officers. We will monitor for mandatory activation and for late activation or early termination. This will include analyzing an appropriate sample of body camera recordings. BWC is a tremendous tool that historically has been grossly underutilized. BWC gives law enforcement the ability to remotely supervise and to supervise supervisors. BWC analysis must be used to reward outstanding performance, and to remediate issues when performance is found to fall short of the mark. We will compare body camera usage by officers and review by supervisors as compared to professional standards and assess how well SLPD is utilizing its BWC footage.
We will discuss with relevant stakeholders the degree to which continuous monitoring of data is being used to mitigate failures to activate and the extent to which supervisory review of body camera footage is being utilized to assess the performance of individual officers.
POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND TRAINING
The IPA team will also be evaluating policy, procedures, and training ensuring that each comports with best practice, and will determine whether the department’s Strategic Plan goals, especially with respect to the critical issues in policing, are being met. Written recommendations with respect to significant findings will be made to the Police Chief and the City Manager as appropriate.
ANNUAL REPORTING AND PRESENTATION
Every year the IPA will produce a written report detailing its activities including a summary of its evaluations of internal investigations and citizen complaints for the prior year and will present those findings to the Board with a copy provided to the City Manager and Police Chief. The report and presentation will include any major recommendations for addressing areas of concern and the steps which have been taken by the Department and the City to address concerns which have been raised. The report will note any trends observed and results of audits. IntegrAssure believes that constant collaboration and communication is key to IPA’s success. As such, nothing that will be contained in the Annual Report will come as a surprise to any of the stakeholders. The IPA team will review the IPA’s case evaluations with the City Council as well as present reports to the City Manager and City Council upon request.
CONDUCTING OF INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS
To the extent that we believe that a particular matter has not been investigated or that our recommendations for any additional investigation in any particular matter has not been followed, we will provide written notification to the City Manager and City Attorney requesting permission to conduct an independent investigation into such matter.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
As indicated above, we will start our first week as IPA meeting with city and the Board for goal setting which will provide the team with a fulsome appreciation of any particular challenge facing SLPD and the community.
We will be happy to participate in any community forum in which we are asked to appear and will regularly deal with the City and the Board to understand issues which may arise. We will also be happy to host IPA forums at periodic intervals to regularly engage with the public in conjunction with the Board.
We will provide an email address, phone number and a multilingual website devoted to the City of San Leandro and our engagement as IPA. We will receive and respond to complaints and issues from community members and will commit to a service level agreement for such responses.
We will increase police department awareness and promote engagement with the community and city staff members by utilizing various mechanisms, including our San Leandro webpage. We will at every opportunity participate in ride-alongs which will be used not only for the purpose of community engagement, but engagement with the officers of the San Leandro Police Department.
2. COST PROPOSAL
TOTAL ESTIMATE OF LEVEL OF EFFORT
Our not to exceed price proposal for this project is derived from our estimate that the tasks as described would not exceed 770 hours. At our combined hourly rate of $250/per hour across all labor categories, IntegrAssure is offering to perform the tasks described within the RFP for a not to exceed amount of $192,500 exclusive of travel which would be billed at cost to the City.
This budget was formulated with our best estimate of the work required to provide the City with the highest quality deliverables. It is our intent to provide the City with the best customer service as well as the highest quality deliverables irrespective of the ultimate number of hours it takes to do so.