Title
Recommendation to Authorize Updates to the Existing Alameda Police Department Policy Manual to Conform to Best Practices and to Ratify Policies that Have Been Updated Pursuant to Legal Updates, Significant Liability Issues, and Imminent Safety. (Police 10031100)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Alameda Police Department (APD) remains committed to the timely adoption of sound policies and procedures so it can deliver procedurally just service that is in line with best practices and industry standards. In an effort to effectively accomplish this:
• APD contracts with a policy development company (Lexipol) for the generation, retention, updating, and publishing of the APD policy manual. Part of the contract includes periodic review and revision of the policy manual to reflect current best practices, emerging case law, and new legislative changes/mandates; and
• In addition to Lexipol, APD further engages in regular reviews and proposes policy modifications when operational changes occur or when the need for new internal procedures are identified. This report provides recommended changes to various policies based on legal developments and/or recommended best practices.
BACKGROUND
Before Lexipol, APD operated on a set of General Orders that functioned as a policy manual for the Department. At that time, APD and the City Attorney’s Office were solely responsible for:
• Monitoring evolving best practices;
• Staying abreast of relevant new case law, and changes in legislation;
• Updating and modifying the General Orders to include new best practices and laws; and
• Printing and disseminating updated/modified General Orders to APD personnel.
This time-consuming and cumbersome process required a tremendous amount of City of Alameda (City) resources.
Approximately 11 years ago, APD entered into an agreement with Lexipol to create, maintain, update, and publish a policy manual. Lexipol is a risk management company that specializes in the creation of electronic public safety policy manuals. Lexipol effectively serves approximately 8,100 public safety agencies/municipalities by:
• Reviewing legislative and regulatory changes that impact operational services. On average, Lexipol reviews about 9,000 changes every year to ensure the policy manuals it manages stay current and comprehensive;
• Pooling resources so its clients are able to obtain their policy manuals from a single source in an easily changeable electronic format that allows for near real-time policy manual updating and instantaneous notification to employees of updates; and
• Working with subject matter experts in policy development.
In short, using Lexipol has resulted in APD’s policy manual remaining more up-to-date, more easily accessible, and constantly reviewed by industry experts outside APD.
Although APD works with Lexipol for policy development and updates, APD has the ability to use Lexipol recommendations as a baseline to create a more restrictive policy for implementation into operations.
At the September 20, 2022, City Council Meeting, City Council provided direction to staff to continue bringing policy updates/changes to the APD policy manual to Council for review and confirmation. However, City Council authorized the Chief of Police to make applicable updates/changes to the policy manual that would be valid and enforceable immediately, if they fell into one of three categories:
• Legal updates,
• Imminent safety issues, and
• Liability issues.
All of the policy updates/changes outlined in this report fall into those categories and are already being implemented.
DISCUSSION
The following APD policies required updating:
300 - Use of Force
This policy has been updated to align with best practices and to reduce risk. The amendments include updating gender pronouns in the existing policy and additional clarifying language was added to ensure compliance with the companion policy, “306 Handcuffing and Restraints.” (See Exhibit 1, pages 2-3, 5-6, 9-10, & 13).
306 - Handcuffing and Restraints
This policy has been updated to align with best practices and to reduce risk to both those restrained and to officers. Several areas of “should” have been replaced with “shall.” Furthermore, language was added to prevent an individual from being unnecessarily kept in a prone position during detentions or arrests. (See Exhibit 1, pages 16 & 18)
450 - Portable Audio/Video Recorders
This policy was amended to include in-car cameras for patrol vehicles, and to provide clarifying language. All gendered pronouns were revised. (See Exhibit 1, pages 20-27)
462 - Automated License Plate Readers
This policy was deleted entirely as the latest version of policy, “463 Fixed Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR),” was revised to include both fixed and mobile license plate reader technologies. (See Exhibit 1, pages 29-33)
463 - Fixed Automated License Plate Readers
This policy was amended to remove the word “fixed” throughout the policy, including the title. The definition of mobile ALPR technology was added to the definition section. Clarifying language was added to the code associated with any searches. The required supervisor’s name in the search field was removed, as it is captured, recorded, and preserved through police radio transmissions for increased accountability. (See Exhibit 1, pages 34-36 and 38-39)
1002 - Evaluation of Employees
This policy has been updated to conform to best practices. The changes include moving the security of personnel reports from the Division Commander to the Training Unit. The vendor name of the software company used for the employee evaluation templates was removed, and clarifying language regarding the frequency of performance evaluations was added. All gendered pronouns were revised. (See Exhibit 1, pages 40-42)
1038 - Overtime Compensation Requests
This policy was updated due to transitioning from paper overtime submissions to a digital solution. Paper form numbers and references to obsolete general orders have been removed. Outdated and redundant language included in the Alameda Police Officer’s Association labor contract was deleted from the policy, and all gendered pronouns have been revised. (See Exhibit 1, pages 45-48)
ALTERNATIVES
• Approve the policy updates.
• Do not approve the policy updates.
• Provide direction to modify the policy updates.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact from approving the policy updates from Lexipol. Funding for the Lexipol contract is currently included under the Police Administrative Services Division budget.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The policy referenced is from the APD policy manual, as published by Lexipol. See the Discussion section for the policy number.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378, and therefore, no further CEQA analysis is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize updates to the existing APD policy manual to conform to best practices and to ratify policies that have been updated pursuant to legal updates, significant liability issues, and imminent safety.
Respectfully submitted,
Nishant Joshi, Chief of Police
By,
Matt McMullen, Police Captain
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Policy Updates