Title
Recommendation to Accept an Informational Report on Updates of the Alameda Police Department. (Police 1003110)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2021, community-led Police Reform and Racial Equity Steering Committee Members and members of five Subcommittees developed recommendations to address the future of policing and systemic racism in Alameda. Since that time, the Alameda Police Department (APD) has been working to incorporate these recommendations in line with industry best practices and has implemented additional comprehensive practices to increase organizational accountability. This report provides an overview of APD’s accomplishments over the last three years on personnel, policies/training, technology, and operations.
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda (City) hired Chief Nishant Joshi in June 2021, who spent 23 years with the Oakland Police Department and brought vast knowledge on best practices around accountability and public safety. Equally as important, Chief Joshi brought a documented track record on significantly reducing crime through a data driven and intelligence-led approach, leveraging stakeholder relationships, and improving community relations centered on procedural justice.
Immediately after assuming his position, Chief Joshi spent the first three months meeting one-on-one with every APD employee to understand their experiences at APD. At these meetings, Chief Joshi sought to understand where APD was at, and shared his vision of where APD would go. APD is committed to a culture of transparency, accountability, and a procedurally just public safety service. At the same time, APD’s operational priorities include traffic, outreach, and crime.
DISCUSSION
Personnel
An initial observation in 2021 about APD was an instability in leadership ranks. At that time, there were several vacant sergeant and lieutenant positions being filled by “acting” roles. As APD prioritizes accountability, supervision, employee wellness, training, recruitment, community relations, and operations, one of the first steps included promoting three lieutenants and three sergeants. Since those six promotions, the following hires/promotions occurred:
1) One additional captain,
2) Four additional lieutenants,
3) 14 additional sergeants, and
4) 53 additional officers
Since 2022 there have been 78 new sworn positions filled with hiring and promotions. On March 21, 2023, City Council unanimously supported adopting and establishing the nation’s largest hiring incentive using existing savings to attract quality candidates for the position of Police Officer. Since the initiative, the number of applications received, and subsequently, Police Officers hired, has increased significantly. Please see Exhibit 1 for more detailed initiative updates.
In addition to the sworn positions being filled, there have been 29 additional hires/promotions in professional staff ranks. At this time, all authorized 36 professional staff positions are filled and there are no vacancies. In total, APD hired or promoted 107 new positions in the past three years.
At the same time, APD has experienced significant attrition through retirements and other separations. At the time of preparing this staff report, 72 of the 88 authorized sworn positions are filled. There are three recruits in the academy and two academy graduates in the hiring process. By May 2025, APD expects to increase total staffing to 77. Additionally, the entire patrol division has been fully staffed. As additional hirings occur, APD will begin filling vacancies in the traffic, investigations, training, and other key non-patrol assignments.
Policies/Training
The Commission on California Police Officer Standards and Trainings (CA POST) requires all peace officers to receive continued professional training to maintain certifications and proficiency. Chief Joshi was a CA POST Police Academy Director and oversaw all facets of training at the Oakland Police Department.
CA POST requires a minimum of 24 hours of training every 24 months. Today, APD far exceeds that requirement. APD holds training every week on an alternating schedule every Tuesday on the schedule overlap days. This means half of operations is offline in training while the other half is still assigned to operations and vice versa. On average, every officer receives approximately 250 hours of training every 24 months. The training topics include community policing, laws of arrest, use of force, de-escalation, crisis intervention, investigations, risk mitigation, first aid, legal/policy updates, tactics, vehicle operations, and any other current relevant subject matter.
Several policies were developed and updated in the past three years to include: use of force, use of force review boards, handcuffing/restraints, internal affairs misconduct investigations, vehicle pursuits, special assignment selections, body worn cameras, canine deployment, mental health response, and militarized equipment.
For use of force, misconduct complaints, and vehicle pursuits, APD conducts extensive follow up investigations. A key update to the use of force policy includes a clear definition of what force is. Per Policy 300, force is defined as, “The application of physical techniques/tactics, chemical agents, or weapons upon another person to:
a) Defend against an assault, and/or
b) Overcome resistance to arrest/custody, and/or
c) Overcome flight from arrest/custody
As a result of this policy update, a separate investigation is conducted into all use of force incidents, and that investigative report is reviewed up the chain of command with strict due dates. Prior to 2021, not all force incidents were investigated separately. In some cases, the use of force was simply reported by the officer in their report. APD’s practice of separately investigating a use of force incident is in line with best practices and allows the opportunity to assess each incident for supervision, decision making, training opportunities, and/or policy updates.
Additionally, with the updated policy, any time there is a use of force that causes injury, the investigation is still completed up the chain of command and a separate use of force board consisting of three independent and uninvolved commanders is convened. The use of force review board operates separate from the original reviewing chain to come up with its own findings. Finally, the recommendations from the original reviewing chain and the use of force board are presented to Chief Joshi for his final review and approval.
In addition to updating the use of force policy, APD has engaged in ongoing scheduled training and tactics around de-escalation. During the review of any use of force incident, officer performance, as it relates to de-escalation, is assessed. Officers have been trained to, when appropriate, prioritize de-escalation over the actual application of force in potentially volatile encounters.
In addition to a comprehensive internal review and accountability process, APD recommended the hiring of a Police Auditor. The recommendation was for the Police Auditor to operate independent of APD with access to review all areas of risk. The City hired Dr. Leigh Grossman, who comes with an extensive background in managing risk in police operations and data analysis.
Dr. Grossman regularly reviews APD performance to include: use of force reports, stop data, misconduct complaints, vehicle pursuits, calls for service, bodyworn cameras, in-car cameras, arrests, on-duty collisions, community feedback/surveys, staffing, and training. Dr. Grossman publishes monthly reports that include the findings of her reviews. Additionally, Dr. Grossman works closely with Chief Joshi to provide regular feedback and recommendations.
Furthermore, APD and Dr. Grossman are in the process of working with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) to establish a set of professional standards for APD. CALEA is a highly recognized organization that assists police agencies with developing best practices that exceed industry standards. Very few agencies have achieved CALEA accreditation. It is anticipated that APD should achieve CALEA accreditation within three years. Dr. Grossman applied for and was awarded grant funding in the amount of $224,000 to assist with the accreditation process.
Technology
Since 2021, APD began developing initiatives around community input/feedback, internal accountability, operations, and crime fighting.
APD purchased SPIDR Tech Technology to receive daily feedback from our community on APD’s performance. This system is designed to ensure timely communications with anyone who calls APD for service. After calling APD to request service, the system sends a text message to the caller to provide updates. If an officer is delayed, the system is set up to automatically send a text advising of the delay. After the officer leaves, the system sends pertinent information to include the associated case number, who to contact, and additional resource information. In the “close out” text, the caller receives a survey request. The caller has the opportunity to give a score between 1-5 (1 is poor service and 5 is excellent service) for the dispatcher and the responding officer(s). In addition to a numerical score, the survey taker has the opportunity to provide free form feedback. Those scores are published daily and any unsatisfactory scores receive a follow up call from a commander. The goal of the follow up call is to understand where service fell short of expectations and allows the opportunity to explain APD policies/procedures.
Additionally, APD was the first department in California to purchase technology (Truleo) that reviews 100% of bodyworn camera footage. This system allows APD leadership to assess police officer performance in real time to identify excellent service, as well as growth opportunities. The system has advanced since its inception at APD. The system provides coaching opportunities and sends praise to officers who exceed expectations. Today, Truleo is internationally recognized as a system that enhances and improves police efficacy within communities.
In addition, City Council authorized the purchase of static license plate reader technology throughout the City. These cameras are strategically installed at all entry and exit points of Alameda. Additionally, City Council authorized mobile license plate reader systems in all patrol vehicles, which also includes an in-car camera system to support operations.
Operations
In 2021 APD began applying a data driven and intelligence-led approach to crime fighting. The City was “re-districted” based on where we were receiving calls for service from and crime trends. APD went from having five beats to three “areas” under a geographic command system. Each area consists of four beats and is commanded by a lieutenant who is responsible for all crime fighting efforts and responsibilities 24/7. In 2023, Chief Joshi created a fourth area which consists of all Alameda businesses. Although this area is not geographically based because businesses are citywide, APD understands and recognizes crimes at businesses contribute significantly to the overall crime numbers. As such, a fourth commander is responsible for addressing crimes at businesses.
As recommended by the Police Reform and Racial Equity Steering Committee, APD hired Crime Analyst Dr. Audrey Clubb who serves a critical role. Dr. Clubb reviews crime data on a 24-hour, 72-hour, 96-hour, two week, and four week basis and prepares a report for each period. These reviews are distributed to all command staff to operationalize strategies in real time. APD has adopted a “CompStat” approach to the strategic deployment of resources to ensure personnel and operations occur based on real-time data. Compstat crime meetings are held every four weeks so Area Commanders are made aware of crime trends and patterns.
The results of APD’s data driven and intelligence led approach to crime fighting has been significant. The City saw drops in total crime in all months other than February and March 2024. Industry standards suggest an annual reduction of crime from 5-10% is significant. In 2024, the City saw an overall reduction in crime by nearly 13%. Please see Exhibit 2 for a more detailed data summary.
In comparison to other cities in the region, Alameda is one of the safest cities with a low rate of crimes against persons. The driver of crime in Alameda is property crimes, specifically burglary, larceny theft offenses, and auto theft:
• Larceny theft offenses were down 1%,
• Auto thefts were up 24%, and
• Burglaries were down 52%
These three crimes accounted for approximately 72% of all Group A crimes and will continue to be APD’s areas of focus in 2025. In addition to enforcement, APD provides support through a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) approach. Several APD staff members have received in-depth training on CPTED and prepare relevant reports/recommendations to affected businesses.
Since 2021, traffic enforcement citations have increased by approximately 62%. Staff prioritizes dangerous vehicle code violations when engaged in traffic enforcement. Additionally, APD works closely with Vision Zero and Public Works staff to incorporate a holistic approach towards traffic safety by targeting enforcement efforts along the City’s high injury corridors.
ALTERNATIVES
• As an Informational Report, there are no alternatives provided.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
There are no municipal code/policy document cross references. The information provided in this report supports the City Strategic Plan priority to Enhance Community Safety & Services, specifically projects CS18 to install vehicle Automated License Plate Readers, CS19 to continue implementing data driven, intelligence led policing strategies to reduce crime, including working with new crime analyst position and incentive program, and CS20 to implement police officer hiring 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
Accept an informational report on updates of APD.
Respectfully submitted,
Nishant Joshi, Chief of Police
By,
Alan Kuboyama, Captain of Police
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Interoffice Memo regarding Hiring Incentive
2. 2024 Crime Data