POLICE OVERSIGHT AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
ORDINANCE
WORKSHOP
Veronica A.F . Nebb
City Attorney
Randy J. Risner
Chief Assistant City Attorney
Mike Malone
City Manager
Title 18 Police Oversight and
Accountabilty
Council and Common Ground Revisions
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18.02.010 Independent Investigations
A. Any Serious Incident, as that term is defined in section
18.02.010B, involving a sworn police officer(s) employed by the Vallejo Police Department, shall be investigated by an
independent investigator (“Independent Investigator”). Bias Incidents, as that term is defined in section 18.03.050C, as well as other potential policy violations may be investigated by the Independent Investigator as set forth in section 18.03.050I.
B. The City Manager, City Attorney and Human Resources
Director shall, by consensus, select a contracted Independent Investigator after seeking advice and input from the
Community Police Oversight Accountability Commission
(“Commission”) at a noticed, open regular or special meeting.
In order to improve efficiency and timeliness, the City Manager may create a standing list of approved investigators.
Thereafter, investigators may be selected from the list without seeking further advice and input from the Commission. The list shall be updated on an annual basis. The list shall be a public record that the Commission or the City Manager may make available to the public online.
4 C. Any person or firm selected as an Independent Investigator shall have the following experience:
1. Be specifically trained in workplace investigations with at least five years of experience investigating workplace matters or public employment issues involving law enforcement agencies;
2. Have an office or place of business within 100 miles of the City and be able to timely respond to Serious Incidents or other matters being investigated;
3. Have significant experience providing expert testimony before arbitrators or courts and able to cite to examples.
5 The Independent Investigator must not be a person who:
1. Is a current employee of the City or any immediate family member of such a person as defined in section
18.03.020C(1);
2. has ever been a peace officer for any federal, state or local law enforcement agency;
3. is a current or former employee of the Vallejo Police Department or any immediate family member of such a
person as defined in section 18.03.020C(1);
4. is an attorney or law firm who represents or represented any person in any proceedings or matters adverse to the City;
5. is a party in any proceedings or matters adverse to the City within the last seven (7) years or any immediate family member of such a person as defined in section
18.03.020C(1).
6. Is an attorney or law firm who represents or has
represented peace officers at arbitration or before a Civil Service Commisison or equivalent body involving a
disciplinary matter;
6 D. A Serious Incident shall be defined as any incident involving sworn members of the Vallejo Police Department as set forth in Penal Code section 832.7(b) as that section now exists or as amended in the future, including, but not limited to:
1. an incident involving the discharge of a firearm at a person by a sworn officer(s);
2. an incident in which the use of force by a sworn officer(s) against a person result in death or great bodily injury. Great bodily injury shall have the meaning set forth in Penal Code section 12022.7(f) and shall include, but shall not be limited to, any physical injury requiring medical treatment in a hospital. For purposes of this section hospitalization shall not include merely for routine medical clearance;
3. An incident involving an allegation of dishonesty of a sworn officer(s) relating to the reporting, investigation, or prosecution of a crime, or directly relating to the reporting of, or investigation of misconduct by, another sworn officer(s), including, but not limited to, perjury, false statements, filing false reports, destruction of evidence, falsifying evidence, or concealing of evidence. All allegations of dishonesty, whether under oath or not, are included in this section.
7 C. The Independent Investigator shall conduct their investigation in parallel with any Internal Affairs investigation. All interviews conducted in any administrative investigation of Serious Incidents shall require the attendance of the Independent Investigator except that the initial interview conducted immediately after the occurrence of the Serious Incident may be conducted without the participation of the Independent Investigator if that person is unavailable.
1. All interviews of any subject or witness conducted by either the Independent Investigator or Internal Affairs shall be video and audio recorded. All such recordings shall be maintained by the City for a period of seven (7) years and may not be destroyed or disposed of before the expiration of that time period;
2. All audio and video recordings of any interview of any subject or witness shall be made available to the Independent Investigator within five days from the date of any request for the recordings;
8 H. The Independent Investigator shall have subpoena authority for records and other relevant material related to any independent investigation. No such subpoena shall issue, however, unless 30-days have elapsed since the Independent Investigator requested such records and they have not been provided. Any such subpoena may be enforced in the Solano County Superior Court and the City Attorney or their designee shall take the necessary steps to enforce such a subpoena.
9 A. The Independent Investigator shall prepare a written Investigative Report for each Serious Incident (“Independent Investigative Report”) or any complaint referred in accordance with the provisions of this Title. The Independent Investigative Report shall set forth findings of fact and a determination as to whether or not any Vallejo Police Department policies or City policies (the “Policy” or “Policies”) were potentially violated including any potential violations committed during the investigation (e.g., dishonesty during any investigative interview). The Independent Investigator shall make their findings based upon a preponderance of the evidence. The term “preponderance of the evidence” shall have the same meaning as found in the most recent version of CALJIC 2.50.2 or any successor section defining “preponderance of the evidence.” 10 F. No City employee shall influence or attempt to influence the outcome of any independent investigation or the contents of any investigatory report prepared by the Independent Investigator. If, after investigation, it is discovered that a City employee engaged in such behavior, that employee shall be subject to discipline up to and including termination, at the discretion of the City Manager (if the employee is under the City Manager) or City Attorney (if the employee is under the City Attorney).
11 Chapter 18.03 Community Police Oversight Accountability Commission.
18.03.010 Creation of Community Police Oversight Accountability Commission Pursuant to the provisions of the Charter of the City of Vallejo, there is hereby created a Community Police Oversight Accountability Commission. The Community Police Oversight Accountability Commission is an advisory board as described in section 403 of the Charter.
12 B. The City Council may not appoint any Member who:
1. is not a qualified elector in the City;
2. is a current employee of the City or any immediate family member of such a person as defined in section 18.03.020C(1);
3. is currently employed as a peace officer by any local, state or federal law enforcement agency or who has been employed as such or who is an immediate family member of any such person. For purposes of this Title, an immediate family member is a current spouse, a child, a parent or a sibling;
13 4. is a current or former employee of the Vallejo Police Department or any immediate family member of such a person as defined in section
18.03.020C(1);
5. is an attorney or law firm who represents or represented any person or entity in any proceedings or matters adverse to the City;
6. is a party to any proceeding or matter adverse to the City within the last seven (7) years or any immediate family member of such a person as defined in section
18.03.020C(1);
7. Is an attorney or law firm who represents or has represented peace officers at arbitration or before a Civil Service Commisison or equivalent body involving a disciplinary matter;
14 7. has been convicted, in the immediately preceding seven (7) years, of any of the following crimes, whether a misdemeanor or a felony:
i. Crimes involving dishonesty;
ii. Crimes involving public corruption;
iii. Crimes involving physical harm of any kind to another human being; iv. Threats of violence or physical harm to another human being; v. Illegal possession of a firearm;
vi. Illegal disclosure of confidential information;
vii. Crimes involving robbery;
8. has ever been convicted of any of the following crimes:
i. Any crime requiring registration as a sex offender pursuant to any state or federal law;
ii. Any crime involving the abuse of a child;
iii. Any felony involving physical harm to a law enforcement officer. 15 M. At the City’s sole cost and expense , all Members shall be subjected to a live scan fingerprint check, to include a check of FBI and California Department of Justice criminal databases before beginning service on the Commission and at each appointment or reappointment thereafter or at the discretion of a majority of the City Council. A Member’s appointment shall be revoked if the background check reveals that the Member has been convicted , within the past seven (7) years, of any of the crimes listed in section 18.03.020B(7). The Member shall also be removed if convicted of any of the crimes set forth in section 18.03.020B(8). 16 18.03.030 – Commission staff.
A. The City Manager shall appoint a member of City staff to support the Commission (“Commission Secretary ”) after seeking advice and input from the Commission at a noticed, regular or special meeting. Said meeting shall be held in either open or closed session as legally required when discussing personnel matters. The Commission Secretary shall prepare the Commission’s agendas, prepare staff reports and supporting materials, serve as the secretary of the Commission, keep the Commission’s minutes and be the Commission’s custodian of records. In preparing agendas for the Commission, the Chair and vice -chair shall convene to set the Agenda and shall consult with the Commission Secretary as well as the Assigned Attorney, as that term is defined below, for advice concerning the legality of the Agenda. The Commission Secretary may not be an employee, either civilian or sworn, of the Vallejo Police Department. The Commission Secretary shall provide administrative support only and shall not provide any direction to the Commission or attempt to influence matters of policy.
17 B. The City Attorney , shall assign a qualified attorney to provide legal advice to the Commission on matters concerning the Commission (“Assigned Attorney”) after seeking advice and input from the Commission at a noticed regular or special meeting. The Assigned Attorney may be either an employee of the City Attorney’s Office or a contracted attorney or both. The Assigned Attorney shall review all agenda items for the Commission to ensure compliance with the Ralph M. Brown Act and any other applicable laws and regulations. The Assigned Attorney shall also ensure that the items on the agenda do not exceed the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission as set forth in this Title. In addition, the Assigned Attorney shall attend and provide legal advice at all regular and special meetings of the Commission. The Assigned Attorney shall also attend all Commission closed session meetings. In the absence of the Assigned Attorney, the City Attorney, at their discretion, may appoint an alternate to temporarily perform the duties of the Assigned Attorney. The Assigned Attorney shall provide legal advice only and shall not provide any direction to the Commission or attempt to influence matters of policy. The Assigned Attorney shall not be an attorney directly involved in litigation matters involving the Vallejo Police Department.
18 The Assigned Attorney shall have the following minimum quaifications:
1. A municipal attorney with a minimum of five (5) years’ experience representing California cities and/or other California public agencies as either a City Attorney, Assistant City Attorney, Deputy City Attorney or equivalent role;
2. Possession of a Juris Doctor from an accredited law school;
3. Experience in police personnel and disciplinary matters and the related California law;
4. Experience in human resources;
5. Experience in police oversight.
19 C. The Assigned Attorney may not be a person who:
1. is currently employed as a peace officer by any local, state or federal law enforcement agency or who has been employed as such or who is an immediate family member of any such person. For purposes of this Title, an immediate family member is a current spouse, a child, a parent or a sibling;
2. is a current or former employee of the Vallejo Police Department or any immediate family member of such a person as defined in section
18.03.020C(1);
3. is an attorney or law firm who represents or represented any person or entity in any proceedings or matters adverse to the City;
4. is a party to any proceeding or matter adverse to the City within the last seven (7) years or any immediate family member of such a person as defined in section 18.03.020C(1);
5. Is an attorney or law firm who represents or has represented peace officers at arbitration or before a Civil Service Commisison or equivalent body involving disciplinary matters;
20 D. The City Council shall appoint one of its members to serve as a City Council Liaison to the Commission.
21 1. regarding the Meyers Milias Brown Act (Cal. Gov’t Code section 3500, et seq.) (MMBA), the Public Employment Relations Board’s administration of the MMBA, the City’s Memoranda of Understanding with the Vallejo Police Officers’ Association (VPOA), Confidential Administrative Management Personnel
(CAMP), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers(IBEW) and other relevant City personnel policies and procedures applicable to the Vallejo Police Department and City employees;
22 4. Attend within 18 months of appointment, or as soon thereafter as possible, the annual conference offered by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (“NACOLE”) or a similar organization focused on police oversight, if and as budgeted by the City Council.
23 E. To the extent possible, Commission training sessions shall be video recorded so that Commissioners who are unable to attend a training session may make up the missed training by watching the video.
24 A. To review all Independent Investigative Reports and all Internal Affairs reports and all supporting evidence used by the Independent Investigator or the Internal Affairs investigator concerning any Serious Incident and provide a recommendation concerning the findings thereof, to the Chief of Police and the City Manager. While the Commission shall not be limited in its recommendation, it shall specifically either agree or disagree with the factual findings and proposed policy violation conclusions and state the reasons therefore. The Commission may also, upon review of the Independent Investigative Report and/or the Internal Affairs report, recommend further investigation. All reviews and recommendations shall be submitted by the Commission to the Chief of Police and the City Manager within 60 days of the submission of the Independent Investigative Report to the Commission. In no event shall the recommendation be submitted to the Chief of Police and the City Manager less than 30 days prior to the running of the time limitation set forth in Government Code section 3304(d).
In the event it is not received within the aforementioned time period, the Commission shall be deemed to have declined review;
25 A. To review the investigatory report provided by the Chief of Police as set forth in section
18.03.060 E. (whether prepared by the Independent Investigator or the Internal Affairs Division) relating to all complaints involving bias, discrimination, any threat or intimidation or coercion (or any attempt thereof), relating to sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship, primary language, military/ veteran status or immigration status, (Bias Incident) by a sworn officer whether in the performance of their duties or otherwise and provide a recommendation concerning the findings and/or policy violations thereof, to the Chief of Police and the City Manager. The Commission may also, upon review of the investigative report, recommend further investigation and/or changes in policy and training. All recommendations shall be submitted by the Commission to the IPA and the Chief of Police within 60 days of the submission of the Investigative Report to the Commission. In no event shall the recommendation be submitted to the Chief of Police less than 30 days prior to the running of the time limitation set forth In Government Code section 3304(d). In the event it is not received within the aforementioned time period, the Commission shall be deemed to have declined review;
26 Recognizing that individuals may feel uncomfortable filing complaints with the Vallejo Police Department, to make complaint forms available to the public by posting complaint forms and information about the complaint process on the Commission webpage and at other public locations, as an alternative to filing complaints with the Vallejo Police Department and accepting the online filing of complaints;
K. To ensure that the City and the Vallejo Police Department makes information about the complaint process and appropriate forms available at other public locations and to provide recommendations to the City and the Vallejo Police Department about the complaint process;
L. To review and make recommendations concerning the factual findings contained in any investigation of any filed complaint to the Chief of Police and/or City Manager;
M. To review and/or make a recommendation to the Chief of Police or City Manager concerning whether disciplinary action should be imposed relating to any violation of policy found to exist in any investigatory report of a Serious Incident or Bias Incident or other incidents referred to the Independent Investigator; 27 O. To review, advise and provide recommendations regarding any new Police policy or concerning any modification or revision of any such policy and to independently propose new policies in their discretion. The Chief of Police shall submit all proposed new policies or revisions to existing policies to the Commission for review before implementation of said policies or revisions.
The Commission shall provide its advice and recommendation to the Chief of Police within 45 days of the submission of any new or revised policy. If the Chief of Police receives no recommendation from the Commission concerning the proposed policy or revision within the 45-day time frame, the Chief may move forward with implementation. This requirement shall not apply to Special Orders of the Chief of Police which may be implemented without a recommendation from the Commission. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, the Chief of Police shall not use Special Orders to circumvent the policy-review provisions set forth herein. If a Special Order has been in existence for more than six (6) months, the Chief of Police shall seek a review and recommendation from the Commission concerning the Special Order; 28 R. To prepare and submit an annual report (the “Commission’s Report”) to the Mayor and City Council, with copies to the City Manager and Chief of Police, on Commission activities. Said report shall be submitted for the previous year on or before April 15 of each calendar year. The Commission’s Report shall be made available to the public. The Commission, in its discretion and after consultation with the Assigned Attorney, may also produce a confidential report addressing confidential matters and present the same to the Chief of Police. The City Council shall review and accept any such reports submitted to them by the Commission in either open session or closed session as legally appropriate;
29 X. The Commission shall have subpoena authority for records and other relevant material concerning any matter before them. No subpoena shall issued, however, unless 30 days have elapsed since any such records were requested by the Commission and the have not been provided. Any such subpoena may be enforced in the Solano County Superior Court and the City Attorney or their designee shall take the necessary steps to enforce such a subpoena.
30 Y. All amounts allocated to the Commission for expenditures are at the discretion of the City Council. Before any submission of the Commission’s annual budget to the City Council, the City’s Finance Director shall submit the proposed budget to the Commission for review. The Commission shall submit any recommendations to the Finance Director and to the City Council within 45 days of receipt. If the Commission does not submit its recommendation within the 45-day time period, the City Council may adopt the budget without considering a Commission recommendation.
31 G. In the event the Chief of Police declines to follow any recommendation of the Commission on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission, the Chief of Police shall provide a written justification to the City Manager and to the City Council.
32 B. The Chief of Police shall provide a confidential quarterly report to the Commission and to the City Manager on all disciplinary matters. The Commission shall review and discuss all such reports in either open session or closed session as legally applicable, and, in their sole discretion, make recommendations to the Chief of Police and the City Manager concerning the matters set forth in such reports.
C. The Chief of Police shall prepare and submit a quarterly report to the Commission and the City Manager on the outcome of all complaints. The Commission shall review and discuss all such reports in either open session or closed session as legally applicable, and, in their sole discretion, make recommendations to the Chief of Police and the City Manager concerning the matters set forth in such reports. 33 A. Initially, the Commission shall hold regular meetings on the _______________of every month beginning with the first full month after appointment of the Members. The Commission may schedule and hold any number of Special Meetings . The Commission may modify its meeting schedule by adoption of bylaws as set forth in section 18.03.110 herein. Provided there is no business for the Commission to conduct at a regular meeting (i.e., there are no items requiring Commission action or discussion on the agenda), the Commission Secretary may cancel a regular meeting as long as such cancellation occurs at least seventy -two hours before the scheduled start of the meeting. The Commission Secretary may also cancel any meeting in the event of an emergency declared by the emergency authority of the city, state or federal government. If there is a need to cancel a meeting for any other reason, the Commission Secretary may only cancel such meeting with the written consent of the Commission chair and vice chair. Any meeting cancellation must be in writing and must clearly state the reason for the cancellation. The Commission may change this cancellation policy by adopting City Council approved bylaws as set forth in section 18.03.110 herein. All meetings of the Commission shall be subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act and, to the extent possible, be video recorded and publicly broadcast.
34 18.04.010 Creation of Office of Independent Police Auditor There is hereby created the office of Independent Police Auditor (IPA). The IPA may be a full-time, part-time or contracted position at the discretion of the City Manager. The City Manager shall appoint this position after seeking advice and input from the Commission. Notwithstanding anything in this code to the contrary and notwithstanding the amount of any such contract, all contracts for an Independent Police Auditor shall be approved by the City Council. Recognizing the importance of the role of the IPA, the City Council shall, in good faith review any such contract submitted to it by the City Manager and shall not unreasonably withhold approval.
35 5. an attorney or law firm who is representing or has represented a party in any proceedings or matters adverse to the City,
6. an individual who is or was a party to any proceedings or matters adverse to the City or is an immediate family member to any such person within the last seven (7) years.
7. Is an attorney or law firm who represents or has represented peace officers at arbitration or before a Civil Service Commisison or equivalent body involving disciplinary matters;
36 B. The IPA may be present during the interviews of witnesses and subjects during any investigation of a Serious Incident or other incidents assigned to an Independent Investigator or Internal Affairs.
37 E. The IPA may review all investigatory reports resulting from any investigation by either an Independent Investigator or Internal Affairs as may be referred to the IPA by the Chief of Police or the Commission. The IPA may provide a report with findings and recommendations on any such investigatory report to the Commission, the City Manager, the City Council and the Chief of Police. 38 F. The IPA shall stay up to date concerning Vallejo Police Department policies and training and shall advise the Commission, the City Manager and the Chief of Police in writing when, in the opinion of the IPA, a change or modification of policy or training is needed. The IPA shall set forth in writing the policy or training that the IPA recommends be added, changed or modified and shall provide an analysis of the reasons they believe the change, modification or addition of policy or training is desirable. If a policy or training does not require a change or modification, the IPA shall so state.
39 H. The IPA may also prepare reports on the IPA’s other activities for review by the Commission.
I. The IPA shall have subpoena authority for records and other relevant material concerning any matter before them. No subpoena shall be issued, however, unless 30-days have elapsed since any such records were requested by the IPA and the have not been provided. Any such subpoena may be enforced in the Solano County Superior Court and the City Attorney or their designee shall take the necessary steps to enforce such a subpoena.
Questions?
40 CO N TACTS
Veronica A.F . Nebb
City Attorney
[email protected]
Randy J. Risner
Chief Assistant City Attorney
[email protected]
Mike Malone
City Manager
[email protected]
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