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.
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 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 meeting, 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:
300: Use of Force
This policy has been updated to clarify existing language. (See Exhibit 1, page 9.)
436: Field Training Program
This policy has been updated because regulatory action impacts its content. California Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Regulation 11 CCR 1004, effective Oct. 1, 2024, requires agency field training programs to be approved by POST. The regulation also added the specific requirement that field training include training on interactions with persons with mental illness or intellectual disability as described in Penal Code section 13515.295.
Changes to this policy include:
• In REQUIRED TRAINING, content and a citation have been added to address the new regulations. (See Exhibit 1, pages 16-19, 21-22)
1035: Lactation Breaks
This policy has been updated because federal regulations impact its content. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which was passed by Congress in 2023. The regulations include additional requirements for employers. Specifically, the regulations explain that a reasonable accommodation for a lactating parent can include adequate break time to pump breast milk, nursing a child in certain limited circumstances, and other appropriate reasonable accommodations. The regulations also added specific requirements for designated lactation spaces within the workplace. This policy was previously limited to lactation breaks as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act but has now been updated and expanded to incorporate the PWFA and the recent regulations.
Changes to this policy include:
• In PURPOSE AND SCOPE, content has been updated for clarity, and the Edit Level has been changed from "State" to "Federal." (See Exhibit 1, page 23).
• In POLICY and LACTATION BREAK TIME, content has been updated for clarity, citations have been added, and text entities have been updated. (See Exhibit 1, page 23).
• In PRIVATE LOCATION, content has been updated to reference the new requirements, citations have been added, terminology has been updated, and spelling and punctuation have been corrected. (See Exhibit 1, page 23).
• The Guide Sheet has been updated.
Unrelated to the regulatory update, additional changes include:
• The policy title has been changed from Lactation Break Policy to Lactation Breaks. (See Exhibit 1, page 23).
• In STORAGE OF EXPRESSED MILK, gendered pronouns have been removed. (See Exhibit 1, page 24).
1054: Temporary Modified-Duty Assignments
This policy has been updated because legislative action and federal regulations impact its content. The regulations implemented the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which includes additional requirements for employers. An employer is now required to provide accommodations, absent an undue hardship, upon notification by an employee (or the employee's representative) that the employee has a pregnancy-related condition.
Changes to this policy include:
• In PURPOSE AND SCOPE, content has been updated to include "limitation" as a protection under federal law, and a serial comma has been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 25).
• In PREGNANCY, content regarding providing accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions has been added to align with the federal law. Content has also been added to provide that accommodations are to be provided without unnecessary delay, and citations have been added. (See Exhibit 1, page 27).
Unrelated to the legislative update, additional changes include:
• In GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS and PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES, content has been updated for clarity. (See Exhibit 1, page 25).
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 policies referenced are from the APD policy manual published by Lexipol. See the Discussion section for each applicable policy number. This action is consistent with the City’s Strategic Plan, Project Number 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