Response to Recommendations
from the Independent Police
Auditor
1 Public Safety Subcommittee Meeting
July 23, 2024
Chief John Cregan
CaptainDan Marincik
Santa RosaPolice Department
INTRODUCTION
• OIR Group is the Independent Auditor for the Santa Rosa Police Department
• In June of 2024, OIR Group presented their annual report to the city council
• OIR Group reviewed 56 personnel investigations conducted by the Santa Rosa Police Department
• OIR Group examined department policies, practices, and trainings • OIR Group provided 6 specific recommendations
RECOMMENDATION #1
• SRPD should continue exploring approaches to providing complainants with detailed information about the nature of its investigative work and the basis for its findings.
• We will continue to look for ways to provide detailed information. • For external complaints, we send letters to the complainant advising them of our findings. • We routinelyspeak with the complainants and explain in great detail the investigativesteps that our investigators took throughout the investigation. • We do have to takeinto account legal requirements related to certain confidentialities of personnel investigations.
RECOMMENDATION #2
• SRPD should give continued focus to non-disciplinary interventions that may be appropriate in the aftermath of a complaint investigation and should document its responsive actions within the case materials. • We document actions we have taken within the investigative materials • Additionally,if appropriate, we document non-disciplinary interventions in a separate evaluation file
• We will continue to work with OIR and look for opportunities to expand how we document our actions in our complaint investigative files
• We have sent officers to additional trainings to enhance performance and behavior and will continue to look for additional opportunities as they arise • Our goal is to change the behavior through accountability, training, and mentoring RECOMMENDATION #3
• SRPD should continue to work with supervisors and officers to enhance the objectivity and effectiveness of subject interviews in the aftermath of a force incident.
• We havecreated a training bulletin and updated it in June of 2023 to provide guidance to have subject interviews done by an uninvolved party when a force incident results in an injury
• Supervisors are also expected to respond to any reported use of force incident to evaluate the incident and subsequent investigation
• In April of 2024, we reinforced and provided additional guidance related to use of force interviews during a mandatory supervisors meeting
• A sergeant and a lieutenant each review the body worn camera and fleet cameras involving any use of force incident to conduct a holistic review of the incident and ensure that the evidence aligns with the statements received at the scene RECOMMENDATION #4
• SRPD leadership should re-emphasize and clarify its expectation that the supervisory review of force incidents should focus on learning opportunities and performance improvements as well as compliance with policy.
• We agree and have updated our use of force investigation template toinclude a section dedicated to training opportunities and have sent officers to additional trainings • Additionally, completed supervisor investigations are reviewed by an uninvolved lieutenant who evaluates the entirety of the investigation
• We have created two training officer positions within the department to help evaluate use of force incidents and identify and implement individual and department wide training opportunities and performance improvements
• Our training team created our first annual use of force report to evaluate use of force trends and provide recommendations for future trainings and learning opportunities RECOMMENDATION #5
• SRPD should amend its database template to promote a wider range of issue- spotting and responsive action by reviewing supervisors • We have a dedicated section in our current template to identifyuse of force training needs • This includes individual officer training needs to address issue spotting • Additionally, weare in the process of changing our database to a new more advanced system • This system will allow us to better track use of force and complaint analytics and better integrate with other systems such as our body worn camera videos to help with issue- spotting
RECOMMENDATION #6
• SRPD should take an inclusive approach to enlisting the full "Major Incident Review Board" process, in order to ensure the thorough and constructive scrutiny of a range of significant force events.
• We recentlycreated our Major Incident Review Board in 2023 • This review board will review critical incidents, uses of force that result in significant bodily injury, or cases as determined by the Chief of Police
• Chief Cregan will review the recommendations and work to make training and policy changes if necessary
• We anticipate future modifications to the process as we evaluate incidents to ensure we are effectively evaluating incidents
IPA Report Highlights
• Independent Police Auditor praised unfettered
access to complaints, police records, and body worn camera footage • Independent Police Auditor highlighted that with all
incidents reviewed the involvedofficers properly activated their body worn cameras. This demonstrates the culture of the organization. • There were zero in-custody deaths involving a Santa Rosa police officer
• SRPD Officers have embraced the role of the
inRESPONSE Mental Health Support Team, and the team is making a difference in Santa Rosa
Questions?