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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 14115 City of Palo Alto (ID # 14115) City Council Staff Report Meeting Date: 3/14/2022 Report Type: Action Items City of Palo Alto Page 1 Title: City Council Discussion with the Independent Police Auditor and Possible Approval of a Performance Review on Recruitment and Hiring From: City Manager Lead Department: City Manager Recommendation Staff recommends a discussion with the City Council and the Independent Police Auditor and discussion and possible approval of a proposed performance review on recruitment and hiring. Discussion Since 2006, Palo Alto has utilized an independent police auditor (IPA) to conduct secondary review of defined investigations of uniformed Police Department personnel and provide related services. Since the inception of the independent police auditing program, the City has contracted with the Office of Independent Review (OIR Group), to provide these services. In 2021, the City Council amended the IPA contract scope to include meeting with the City Council in open session twice a year. The last check in with the IPA was in a Study Session on September 13, 2021 (agenda; minutes). The IPA provided Attachment A as additional discussion material for the City Council for this upcoming discussion. In addition, the IPA has provided an idea of a scope of services in response to the City Council’s interest in OIR performing a one-time performance review on an appropriate and useful topic. OIR could conduct a review of the Palo Alto Police Department's Recruitment and Hiring Processes to assess the extent to which the PAPD recruiting and hiring strategy and standards reflect contemporary thinking about candidate eligibility, suitability, and potential. OIR believes that this review could be conducted for $25,000. If the City Council approves this or any other performance review, the City’s contract with OIR provides for the Mayor and City Manager to execute a Task Order to approve the work, timeline, and budget within the existing not-to-exceed contract amount. Of note, the contract only allocates $10,000 for these additional services, thus further discussion of the cost and/or a contract amendment would be necessary. City of Palo Alto Page 2 Resource Impact The City’s contract with OIR provides for $97,500 for core services, including secondary reviews of the Police Department administrative investigations and other matters as described in the contract; preparation of two reports per year; and two discussions with the City Council. Performance reviews are funded as optional additional services, up to $10,000. As noted above, the estimated recruitment and hiring performance review is for $25,000 which exceeds the amount in the contract. If the City Council approves the performance review topic, staff would further discuss the scope and cost with OIR and return to City Council regarding any contract amendments and budget adjustments as necessary. Attachments: • Attachment A: Palo Alto Complaint Table with Text (2022) 1 INDEPENDENT POLICE AUDITORS’ REPORT: Addendum to February 2022 Public Report re Cases Presented to the Honorable City Council City of Palo Alto February 2022 Prepared by: Michael Gennaco and Stephen Connolly Independent Police Auditors for the City of Palo Alto 2 Case Totals: Summary and Trend Analysis Our February 2022 Report is the latest in a series that we been providing to the City of Palo Alto since 2007. It is also the first that reflects new elements in the “scope of work” that the City Council designed in 2021, in response to the renewed emphasis on transparency and police accountability in Palo Alto and across the country. One of those new elements is a “statistical breakdown of the number of complaints /investigations and any developing trends.” In response to that request, we have prepared the following table in summary of the misconduct investigations that we cover in this report. The ten matters itemized below are, in one respect, a small sample size from which it is difficult to discern statistically meaningful trends. They do, however, approximately comport with our past experience in terms of the volume of total complaints and internally generated investigations for the period that is covered here. And we can use them as a starting point for a more complete analysis as more “data points” emerge in the form of new investigations.1 Interestingly, three of the cases arose from complainant assertions regarding an alleged failure to act by PAPD, as opposed to the more common dynamic of dissatisfaction with an affirmative encounter (such as officer rudeness, unjustified detention, etc.) PAPD’s approach was found to be reasonable and appropriate in all three instances – results with which we concurred. And the circumstances were sufficiently distinct as to not lend themselves to a larger insight. We do believe there is value to the idea of trend analysis, and look forward to providing further updates as we assess pending and new cases for our future reports. 1 As part of our increased scope of work, PAPD was to report to IPA cases in which an officer pointed a firearm at a person. PAPD has advised that there were no such instances during the relevant reporting period. 3 Complaint/Investigation Outcome Allegation that officer’s investigative actions “targeted” man improperly Exonerated Allegation that PAPD failed to intervene appropriate in a legal dispute between former spouses No misconduct identified Allegations of improper PAPD tactics and other misrepresentations in a criminal case resulting in conviction Unfounded Allegation of insufficient response by PAPD to complainant’s third-party report of another person’s activity in public. No misconduct identified Allegation of insufficient investigative response by PAPD to a woman’s lost cell phone. No misconduct identified Allegation of false arrest, illegal search, and racial profiling Allegations not sustained Internal allegation of officer misconduct regarding database access and off-duty misconduct Sustained for conduct unbecoming and improper monitoring of ride-along Allegation of rudeness and improper suppression of First Amendment activity Officers counseled, no policy violations sustained. Allegation that PAPD had mishandled various aspects of a medical response call Dispatcher was found to have deviated from protocol in handling of 911 call; no policy violations sustained for officers. Allegation of improper deployment of PAPD K-9 No policy violations identified, but relevant policies were revised in light of incident.