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 City of Alameda (City) Police Department (APD) remains committed to the timely adoption of sound policies and procedures so it can deliver procedurally just service that aligns with best practices and industry standards. To effectively accomplish this:
• APD contracts with a policy development company (Lexipol) to generate, retain, update, and publish 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 APD. 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 resources.
Approximately 13 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 can 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 City Council meeting of September 20, 2022, City Council provided direction to staff to continue bringing policy updates/changes to the APD policy manual to City 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.
DISCUSSION
The following APD policies require updating:
306: Handcuffing and Restraints
This policy has been updated because a new Transporting Persons in Custody Policy has been added to the manual. Changes to this policy include:
• In POLICY, a policy reference has been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 1)
• In RESTRAINT OF PREGNANT PERSONS, content has been updated for clarity, a policy reference has been added, and punctuation has been corrected. (See Exhibit 1, pages 1-2)
• NOTIFICATIONS has been deleted in its entirety and content has been relocated to the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy. (See Exhibit 1, page 2)
• In GUIDELINES FOR USE OF LEG RESTRAINTS, some content has been deleted because it is now addressed in the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy, and gendered pronouns have been removed. Some content has also been updated to incorporate best practices. (See Exhibit 1, pages 4-5)
• The Guide Sheet has been updated.
Unrelated to the new policy update, additional changes include:
• In APPLICATION OF AUXILIARY RESTRAINT DEVICES, terminology has been updated. (See Exhibit 1, page 3)
• In TRAINING, terminology has been updated, and content has been updated for consistency with best practices. (See Exhibit 1, page 5)
418: Mental Illness Commitments
This policy has been updated because a new Transporting Persons in Custody Policy has been added to the manual. Changes to this policy include:
• In TRANSPORTATION, content has been relocated to the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy and a policy reference has been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 7)
Unrelated to the new policy update, additional changes include:
• In VOLUNTARY EVALUATION, content has been rearranged for better readability, and gendered pronouns have been removed. (See Exhibit 1, page 6)
• In FIREARMS AND OTHER WEAPONS, a policy title has been corrected. (See Exhibit 1, page 9)
454: Bicycle Patrol Unit
This policy has been updated to provide more opportunities for employees to serve on the department’s Bicycle Patrol Unit. Changes to this policy include:
• In SELECTION OF PERSONNEL, content has been updated to change the minimum selection criteria. (See Exhibit 1, page 11)
466: Medical Aid and Response
This policy has been updated because a new Transporting Persons in Custody Policy has been added to the manual. Changes to this policy include:
• In TRANSPORTING ILL AND INJURED PERSONS, some content has been moved to the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy, content has been updated for clarity, and a serial comma and policy reference have been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 15)
• In SICK OR INJURED ARRESTEE, some content has been moved to the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy, content has been updated for clarity, and gendered pronouns have been removed. (See Exhibit 1, page 18)
Unrelated to the new policy update, additional changes include:
• HOSPITAL SECURITY AND CONTROL has been added as a new subsection in SICK OR INJURED ARRESTEE to address procedures to follow at medical facilities. (See Exhibit 1, pages 18-19)
• In AED USER RESPONSIBILITY, content has been updated for clarity. (See Exhibit 1, page 17)
• FIRST AID TRAINING has been renamed FIRST-AID TRAINING, and punctuation has been corrected. (See Exhibit 1, page 19)
706: Vehicle Use
This policy has been updated because a new Transporting Persons in Custody Policy has been added to the manual. Changes to this policy include:
• In PURPOSE AND SCOPE, a policy reference has been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 20)
• In INSPECTIONS, content has been removed and relocated to the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy. (See Exhibit 1, page 21)
707: Cash Handling, Security and Management
This is a new policy that was developed to ensure compliance with accreditation standards. Highlights include:
• PETTY CASH FUNDS recommends designating specific individuals for cash management and provides guidelines for accounting practices. (See Exhibit 1, page 28)
• PETTY CASH AUDITS establishes periodic audits. (See Exhibit 1, page 28)
902: Custodial Searches
This policy has been updated because a new Transporting Persons in Custody Policy has been added to the manual. Changes to this policy include:
• In PURPOSE AND SCOPE, a policy reference and serial commas have been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 30)
• FIELD AND TRANSPORTATION SEARCHES has been deleted in its entirety, and content has been relocated to the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy. (See Exhibit 1, page 30)
Unrelated to the new policy update, additional changes include:
• In STRIP SEARCHES, spacing has been corrected. (See Exhibit 1, page 32)
906: Transporting Persons in Custody
This new policy has been developed to provide guidance on relevant issues concerning transporting persons in custody and to combine related content from multiple policies throughout the manual into a single policy. Highlights include:
• POLICY communicates the City of Alameda’s commitment to safe, secure, and humane transportation of persons in custody. (See Exhibit 1, page 36)
• OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES and TRANSPORT RESTRICTIONS identify the responsibilities of members transporting persons in custody. (See Exhibit 1, pages 36-37)
• TRANSPORTING PERSONS IN CUSTODY WHO HAVE A DISABILITY, TRANSPORTING ILL OR INJURED PERSONS IN CUSTODY, and TRANSPORTING PREGNANT PERSONS IN CUSTODY provide guidance for transporting in-custody persons in various circumstances. (See Exhibit 1, pages 37-38)
• INTERRUPTION OF TRANSPORT and EXTENDED TRANSPORTS provide guidance on instances when transport is disrupted and on routine stops for longer transports. (See Exhibit 1, page 39)
• ESCAPES provides direction in the event that a person in custody escapes. (See Exhibit 1, page 39)
1002: Evaluation of Employees
This policy has been updated to reflect the current practice. Changes to this policy include:
• In RATINGS, the ratings standards were revised to outline the standards used in employee evaluations. (See Exhibit 1, page 42)
• In EVALUATION REVIEW, the review workflow was revised to reduce administrative redundancies. (See Exhibit 1, page 43)
1022: Seat Belts
This policy has been updated because a new Transporting Persons in Custody Policy has been added to the manual. Changes to this policy include:
• In PURPOSE AND SCOPE, policy references have been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 45)
• TRANSPORTING PERSONS IN CUSTODY has been deleted in its entirety and its relevant content moved to the Transporting Persons in Custody Policy. (See Exhibit 1, page 45)
ALTERNATIVES
• Approve the policy updates
• Do not approve the policy updates
• 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 published by Lexipol. See the Discussion section for the policy number. This action is consistent with the City’s Strategic Plan, Strategic Priorities Project CS19: Continue implementing data driven, intelligence led policing strategies to reduce crime, including working with new crime analyst position and incentive program.
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 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.
Respectfully submitted,
Nishant Joshi, Chief of Police
By,
Alan Kuboyama, Police Captain
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Acting Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Policy Updates