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 is identified. This report provides recommended changes to various policies based on legal developments and/or recommended best practices.
This report provides recommended changes to various policies based on legal developments and/or recommended best practices.
This report also responds to the June 18, 2024 City Council meeting regarding public notifications on drone deployments.
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 12 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 provided direction to staff to continue bringing policy updates/changes to the APD policy manual to the 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.
All policy updates/changes outlined in this report fall into those categories and are already being implemented.
DISCUSSION
The following APD policies required updating:
314: Vehicle Pursuits
This policy has been updated to clarify agency expectations on vehicle pursuits to include (See Exhibit 1, pages 2-4, 7, and 9):
• What crimes authorize initiating a pursuit,
• Supervisory responsibilities during a pursuit,
• Command responsibilities during a pursuit,
• Under what conditions should a pursuit be terminated, and
• Reporting requirements.
324: Temporary Custody of Juveniles
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content. 2022 CA AB 2644, effective July 1, 2024, amended law to prohibit an officer from employing threats, physical harm, deception, or psychologically manipulative interrogation tactics, as specified, during a custodial interrogation of a person 17 years of age or younger, with exceptions.
The changes include (See Exhibit 1, pages 23-24):
• INTERVIEWING OR INTERROGATING JUVENILE SUSPECTS has been updated to include the new provisions, a citation has been added, punctuation has been corrected, and list formatting has been updated.
Unrelated to the legislative update, additional changes include:
• In RELEASE OF INFORMATION CONCERNING JUVENILES, content that is procedural in nature and outside the scope of this policy has been removed.
396: Generative Artificial Intelligence Use
This new policy has been developed to provide guidance for law enforcement agencies using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) systems and information.
Highlights include (See Exhibit 1, pages 26, 27, and 29 for internal changes/additions in blue text):
• POLICY: communicates the benefits and risks of GenAI systems for law enforcement use.
• AI COORDINATOR: designates certain responsibilities to a member.
• USE OF GENERATIVE: AI outlines the limitations for the use of GenAI systems and AI-generated content.
• PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS: explains when protected information may be put into GenAI systems.
• PROHIBITED USE: outlines the restrictions on the use of GenAI systems and information.
432: Patrol Rifles
This policy has been updated after an internal review was completed of the “Patrol Ready (Section 432.8)” check completed by employees at the beginning of their tour of duty.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, pages 31-32):
• The policy has been updated to reflect the changes and the process employees conduct prior to starting their shift.
615: Forensic Genetic Genealogy
This new policy provides guidelines for the use of forensic genetic genealogy (FGG), a new investigative technique for most law enforcement agencies.
Highlights include (See Exhibit 1, pages 33-36):
• PURPOSE AND SCOPE: describes that FGG is used to provide investigative leads.
• DEFINITIONS: includes technical terms as needed for context.
• CRITERIA FOR FGG USE: describes the scope for FGG use, which includes exhausting all other reasonable investigative leads and methods before applying FGG to qualifying cases.
• COORDINATION: details cooperation with prosecutors and medical examiners/coroners, as applicable.
• POST-IDENTIFICATION: describes appropriate actions and confirmations after an FGG investigative lead has been developed, including that the FGG result alone shall not be the sole probable cause for an arrest or search warrant.
• PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS: covers the topic of privacy in FGG; a non-suspect person may have a distant genetic relationship with a suspect who is a complete stranger (i.e., not a known relation).
1044: Personal Appearance Standards
This policy update is an internal recommendation amending Section 1044.2.4-Facial Hair.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, page 37):
• It allows employees to have facial hair that is neatly groomed and does not exceed a half-inch in length unless authorized by the Chief of Police to be longer.
Follow Up Action
In response to the June 18, 2024 City Council meeting on public notifications regarding drone deployment, APD will continue to make “AB481 Use of Equipment” notifications on its website. Because drones fall under AB481 notification requirements, APD will also include all drone deployments. Notifications are made immediately after deployments and can be accessed on the City website at:
<https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Police-Department> and specifically the document is available at ab-481-equipment-use-as-of-6202024.pdf <https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/v/2/departments/alameda/police/ab-481-equipment-use-as-of-6202024.pdf>
ALTERNATIVES
• Approve the policy updates.
• Do not approve the policy updates.
• Modify the policy updates and provide direction to staff.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact from approving the policy updates from Lexipol. Funding for the Lexipol contract is currently included in the Police Department - 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. 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,
Jeffery Emmitt, Police Captain
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Margaret O’Brien, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Policy Updates