Agenda Item #15.1
For Council Meeting of: June 16, 2026
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: LORI ANN FARRELL, INTERIM CITY MANAGER, CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE SUBJECT: INDEPENDENT POLICE AUDITOR ANNUAL REPORT
AGENDA ACTION: ACCEPT OR RECEIVE ONLY
RECOMMENDATION
The Interim City Manager recommends that the Council receive a presentation by OIR Group, LLC on its annual report regarding independent oversight of the Santa Rosa Police Department. This item is informational only, and no Council action will be taken. This item has no impact on the current fiscal year budget.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OIR Group, LLC (OIR) will provide a presentation summarizing its third annual report regarding oversight of the Santa Rosa Police Department (SRPD). Council will have the opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback to staff.
GOAL
This item relates to Council Goal #4 - Foster a Safe, Healthy, and Inclusive Community by providing oversight of the Santa Rosa Police Department.
BACKGROUND/PRIOR COUNCIL REVIEW
On November 30, 2021, the City entered into a contract with OIR Group to serve as the independent auditor of the Santa Rosa Police Department. The OIR group reports directly to the City Manager and reviews internal investigations, conducts audits of policies, practices, and records, and conducts community outreach.
ANALYSIS
OIR Group has established a defined, efficient set of protocols with SRPD to meet the City’s expectations regarding outside oversight of the discipline process. Below is a list of their five recommendations:
Recommendation 1: SRPD should continue its commitment to involving a range of supervisors in the administrative discipline process, particularly by entrusting them with responsibility for handling lower-level allegations of misconduct.
Recommendation 2: SRPD should explore additional ways to prepare new supervisors with the background skills needed to effectively intake, investigate, and assess public complaints of officer misconduct.
Recommendation 3: SRPD should focus on addressing investigative thoroughness and documentation at the patrol level by evaluating workload distribution, supervision, remediation, and other potential forms of intervention.
Recommendation 4: SRPD should take an inclusive approach to the selection of incidents presented to the Major Incident Review Board, to maximize the benefit of a thorough, structured consideration of matters that are distinctive, impactful, or otherwise worthy of additional scrutiny.
Recommendation 5: SRPD should refine its new Major Incident Review protocol to ensure that identified action items are assigned, completed, and documented prior to closure of the case file.
FISCAL IMPACT
Not applicable.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, the recommended action is not a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it does not have a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. In the alternative, the recommended action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the recommended action may have a significant effect on the environment.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Not applicable.
NOTIFICATION
Not applicable.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – OIR Group LLC Annual Report
PRESENTER(S)
Michael Gennaco, OIR Group
Stephen Connolly, OIR Group
OIR Group LLC
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