[Cprb] Police review: Separate approaches in the SF Bay area

Police review: Separate approaches

Here are how each of the Bay Area's eight examples of civilian oversight
work.


   Apr. 27, 1998
   
   By BOB KLOSE
   Press Democrat Staff Writer 
   

   SAN FRANCISCO
   
     Established: 1983
   
     Complaints in 1997: 1,126
   
     Staff: 30
   
     Budget: $2.1 million
   
   With a population of almost 800,000 and a police force of some 2000
   sworn officers, San Francisco leads the area in the number of citizen
   complaints against police officers and the size of the oversight
   mechanism.
   
   The Office of Citizen Complaints, created by voters in 1983, received
   1,126 complaints in 1997, each consisting of one or more allegations;
   983 cases were resolved and 179 allegations against officers were
   sustained for misconduct.
   
   "We handle complaints ranging from rudeness and invalid traffic
   tickets to wrongful shootings," said Director Mary Dunlap. "We
   investigate all shootings that result in death whether there is a
   complaint or not."
   
   Dunlap said the office is an investigative and prosecuting authority.
   The police chief and civilian Police Commission are the final judges.
   Most cases in which evidence supports the allegations go to the police
   chief for disposition, she said.
   
   "But when we are seeking discipline higher than 10 days' suspension,
   we have to go to the Police Commission. Only the commission can fire
   or suspend for more than 10 days."
   
   The office has subpoena authority, and police officers are required to
   cooperate with the agency or face further discipline.
   
   Hearings before the chief are closed. Commission proceedings normally
   are open to the public.
   
   Dunlap said her office has examined dozens of shootings, and that in
   at least one case the shooting was found to be unjustified and the
   officer resigned. She said investigations are especially important to
   the officers.
   
   "It's very important to exonerate officers when the facts do so," she
   said.
   

   OAKLAND
   
     Established: 1980
   
     Complaints in 1997: 43
   
     Staff: 3
   
     Budget: $397,000
   
   Oakland has half the population of San Francisco, but its Citizens'
   Police Review Board staff is only about 10 percent the size of San
   Francisco's Office of Citizen Complaints. The oversight body operated
   for almost 14 years without its own investigators, relying on evidence
   submitted by the police department's own internal affairs
   investigation. The council broadened the commission's power and
   independent investigative function in 1996 after a critical report by
   the ACLU and People United for a Better Oakland.
   
   The Oakland staff, which investigates complaints of excessive force
   and bias, has one full-time investigator and is hiring a second.
   
   After complaints are investigated, if the evidence warrants, cases are
   taken to a nine-member civilian commission that hears and decides the
   case in public and recommends punishment or policy review to the city
   manager, who consults with the police chief. The city manager is the
   final authority.
   
   Investigator Nancy Schmidt said Oakland received 43 complaints in
   1997, and nine went before the commission. Allegations in three of
   those cases were sustained, she said.
   
   Four civilians were slain by Oakland officers last year. According to
   Assistant District Attorney Stacy Walthall, no wrongdoing has been
   found in any officer-involved shooting for more than 10 years.
   

   BERKELEY
   
     Established: 1973
   
     Complaints in 1997: 42
   
     Staff: 4
   
     Budget: $247,000
   
   Berkeley's Police Review Commission is the most public of such
   agencies in the Bay Area.
   
   Hearings are open and the public record remains available for public
   inspection -- even in cases in which allegations are not sustained.
   
   However, the commission's findings are only advisory to the city
   manager, who with the police chief sets disciplinary measures based on
   the police department's own internal affairs investigation and the
   commission information.
   
   And the actual disciplinary consequences for the officer, if any, are
   not public.
   
   "That is weakest part of the system," said Director Barbara Attard.
   
   The commission, established in 1983 and one of the nation's oldest, is
   made up of nine civilians appointed by the City Council and the mayor.
   The commission staff is authorized to investigate complaints and
   policies and procedures. Cases of deadly force are not automatically
   investigated, Attard said.
   
   Complaints are investigated by staff and submitted to a three-person
   commission subcommittee called a board of inquiry. Officers and
   complainants are questioned and cross-examined in a quasi-judicial
   proceeding, and findings are forwarded to the city manager.
   
   Attard said 42 complaints were filed in 1997. Two allegations were
   sustained.
   

   RICHMOND
   
     Established: 1983
   
     Complaints in 1997: 24
   
     Staff: 2
   
     Budget: $200,000
   
   Richmond's Police Review Commission, established in 1983 by the City
   Council following several officer-involved shootings, investigates
   excessive force and race-based disputes.
   
   Commission investigator Don Casimere, a former Berkeley police
   officer, conducts the inquiry and submits his findings to the
   nine-member commission, which is appointed by the City Council. The
   commission reaches a conclusion and makes a recommendation to the
   police chief. If the chief disagrees with the commission
   recommendation, he submits the issue to the city manager for final
   disposition. The commission also can review policy.
   

   SANTA CRUZ
   
     Established: 1994
   
     Complaints in 1997: 25
   
     Staff: 1
   
     Budget: $64,000
   
   The seven-member civilian Santa Cruz Citizen Police Review Board
   primarily reviews the police department's own internal investigation.
   
   Internal affairs investigates citizen complaints and sends its
   findings to a deputy chief and the Police Review Board for automatic
   review.
   
   Board members discuss the findings in closed session and send their
   recommendations to the police chief.
   
   The chief weighs both the board's and deputy chief's recommendations
   and makes a decision. The city manager is final authority.
   

   NOVATO
   
     Established: 1992
   
     Complaints in 1997: 10
   
     Staff: None
   
     Budget: $8,500
   
   Novato's 6-year-old Police Advisory and Review Board, a five-member
   panel appointed by the City Council, reviews citizen complaints only
   if the complaining party is not satisfied with an internal affairs
   investigation and findings.
   
   The panel has subpoena power, subject to City Council approval, but
   has never used it, according to City Manager Rod Wood.
   
   Police Chief Brian Brady said the Novato board rarely differs from
   police investigators.
   
   "In virtually all the cases, the board agreed with the internal
   affairs investigation," he said.
   
   "In one case we had a minor difference. Internal affairs found one
   allegation unfounded. The board found that there was no evidence to
   indicate one way or another."
   

   SAN JOSE
   
     Established: 1993
   
     Complaints in 1997: 443
   
     Staff: 4
   
     Budget: $320,000
   
   An independent police auditor, paid $110,000 a year and guaranteed job
   security unless she loses the support of 10 City Council members,
   provides civilian oversight for the San Jose Police Department.
   
   Under the San Jose formula, Teresa Guerrero-Daley monitors
   investigations of citizen complaints conducted by internal affairs.
   
   "It is as extensive or as superficial as I decide to make it and with
   the exception of use of force cases, which are all monitored. We
   review about 60 percent of the rest," she said.
   
   San Jose audited 443 cases and sustained 22 allegations last year. Two
   officers resigned while under investigation, she said.
   
   Gerrero-Daley said she takes her findings directly to the police chief
   and attempts to reach an agreement on disposition. But the police
   chief has final authority, and if the auditor is not happy with his
   decision, she can discuss the issue further with the chief and city
   manager, or go directly to the council, which hires and fires the
   chief.
   

   FAIRFIELD
   
     Established: 1997
   
     Complaints in 1997: 35
   
     Staff: None
   
     Budget: None
   
   Internal Affairs investigations are reviewed by a Citizen Complaint
   Audit Committee that reports to the City Council quarterly. Members
   include one civilian appointee and representatives from the police
   department and the city manager's office, and a city insurance
   official.
   
   It has no investigative budget.