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 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 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:
218: License to Carry a Firearm
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content.
2023 California Senate Bill 2, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law related to issuing and renewing a license to carry a firearm. The law now requires a licensing authority to issue or renew a license if the applicant is not a disqualified person for the license and the applicant is at least 21 years of age. The law removes the good character and good cause requirements from the issuance criteria. Under the new law, the applicant would be a disqualified person if they, among other things, are reasonably likely to be a danger to themselves, others, or the community at large, as specified. The law adds the requirement that the applicant be the recorded owner, with the Department of Justice, of the pistol, revolver, or other firearm capable of being concealed upon the person, and for the issuing authority to verify this information. Lexipol and APD are aware of the recent federal court ruling issuing a preliminary injunction to a portion of SB 2, Penal Code § 26230, which limits the public places where people with concealed carry permits may carry their handguns, and is not addressed by or referred to in this policy.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, Pages 1-9):
• In QUALIFIED APPLICANTS, content has been updated to reflect the new requirements, and some content from APPLICATION PROCESS has been included.
• In APPLICATION PROCESS, some content has been moved to a more appropriate location in QUALIFIED APPLICANTS.
• In PHASE ONE (TO BE COMPLETED BY ALL APPLICANTS), content has been updated to include notice requirements, training requirements, and additional best practices, and some content was moved to a more appropriate location in WRITTEN NOTICE FOR DENIAL OF LICENSE.
• In PHASE TWO, content has been updated to include additional requirements related to fingerprints and fees, a citation has been added, content has been updated for clarity, and some content was moved to a more appropriate location in WRITTEN NOTICE FOR DENIAL OF LICENSE.
• In ISSUED FIREARMS PERMITS, content has been updated to include new requirements, a citation has been updated, and citations have been added.
• In REVOCATION OF LICENSES, content has been updated to include reasons for revocation, and for clarity, unnecessary citations have been removed, and citations have been added.
• In LICENSE RENEWAL, content has been updated to include notice requirements and for clarity.
• WRITTEN NOTICE FOR DENIAL OF LICENSE has been added as a new section to include requirements relating to denials for new licenses and renewals, and some content from PHASE ONE (TO BE COMPLETED BY ALL APPLICANTS) has been included.
• ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS has been added as a new subsection in WRITTEN NOTICE FOR DENIAL OF LICENSE, to include additional requirements for notice of denial or license revocation.
Unrelated to the legislative update and as part of ongoing quality maintenance of manual content, this policy has been completely revised with updated best practices and for clarity. All updates should be accepted to avoid mixing old and new content, which could result in conflicting or confusing policies. Changes include:
• In PURPOSE AND SCOPE, content has been rewritten for clarity, and content regarding policy availability has been moved to POLICY AVAILABILITY.
• In LIMITED BUSINESS LICENSE TO CARRY A CONCEALED FIREARM, content has been updated for clarity.
• LICENSE RESTRICTIONS has been removed because it is generally addressed in ISSUED FIREARMS PERMITS.
• AGENCY REPORTING AND RECORDS has been updated for clarity. The section name is based on a text entity and may vary depending on how you answered the General Information Questionnaire.
• In CONFIDENTIAL RECORDS, content that is already addressed in the Records and Maintenance Release Policy has been removed, and grammar has been corrected.
• POLICY AVAILABILITY has been added as a new section to include content moved from PURPOSE AND SCOPE.
300: Use of Force
This policy is being updated based on a May 2022 Presidential Executive Order and subsequent May 2023 accreditation standards issued by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). State accrediting entities must comply with the DOJ standards to qualify as independent credentialing bodies. Although the standards issued by the DOJ do not directly impact local law enforcement agencies, the federal action is structured to encourage local agencies to seek state accreditation by making certain federal grant funding dependent on an agency achieving accredited status. Lexipol has updated content to place agencies in the best position possible if and when they elect to seek accreditation.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, Pages 18 - 23):
• In DEADLY FORCE APPLICATIONS, content has been added to provide that an officer should not use deadly force against a person whose actions are a threat solely to property, a citation has been updated, and gendered pronouns have been removed.
• In SHOOTING AT OR FROM MOVING VEHICLES, content has been updated to make it clear that this subsection should be read in conjunction with DEADLY FORCE APPLICATIONS.
• TRAINING has been updated to provide for annual use of force training. Additionally, content relating to specific required annual topics has been moved to TRAINING REQUIREMENTS and STATE-SPECIFIC TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.
• TRAINING REQUIREMENTS has been added as a new subsection in TRAINING to outline required annual training topics based on the requirements in the DOJ standards.
• STATE-SPECIFIC TRAINING REQUIREMENTS has been added as a new subsection in TRAINING to address specific state training requirements.
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content. 2023 California Assembly Bill 360, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law relating to the use of the term "excited delirium" in police reports. The new law prohibits a peace officer from using the term to describe an individual in an incident report, but does not prohibit the peace officer from describing the individual's behavior. Changes to this policy include:
• REPORT RESTRICTIONS has been added as a new subsection in REPORTING THE USE OF FORCE to include the new restriction.
Unrelated to the legislative update, additional changes include:
• In ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS, content has been updated to include best practices, and a comma has been removed.
330: Child Abuse
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content.
2023 California Assembly Bill 391, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law by requiring that agencies receiving a report from a nonmandated reporter to ask the reporter to provide specified information, including their name, telephone number, and the information that gave rise to the knowledge or reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect. If the reporter refuses to provide their name or telephone number, the agency is required to make an effort to determine the basis for the refusal and advise the reporter that the identifying information would remain confidential.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, page 27):
• INITIAL REPORTS OF ABUSE FROM A NONMANDATED REPORTER has been added as a new subsection in INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTING to include the new requirements.
Unrelated to the legislative update, additional changes include:
• In EXTRA JURISDICTIONAL REPORTS, citation formatting has been corrected, and a serial comma has been added.
• In RELEASE OF REPORTS, citation formatting has been corrected.
334: Public Alerts
This policy has been updated because legislative actions impact its content.
2023 California Assembly Bill 946, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended the law by adding a new public alert for Endangered Missing Advisory. The new Endangered Missing Advisory may be issued through the California Highway Patrol when a person is reported missing who is developmentally disabled, cognitively impaired, has been abducted, or is unable to otherwise care for themselves, placing their physical safety at risk.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, Pages 37-39):
• ENDANGERED MISSING ADVISORY and its subsections (CRITERIA FOR ENDANGERED MISSING ADVISORY and PROCEDURE FOR ENDANGERED MISSING ADVISORY) have been added as a new section and subsections to address the new advisory.
• The Guide Sheet has been updated.
2023 California Senate Bill 673, also effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended the law by adding an Ebony Alert. The new Ebony Alert is for missing Black youth, including women and girls, who are reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, at risk, developmentally disabled, or cognitively impaired, or who have been abducted.
Changes include:
• EBONY ALERT and its subsections (CRITERIA FOR EBONY ALERT and PROCEDURE FOR EBONY ALERT) have been added as a new section and subsections to address the new alert.
Unrelated to the legislative update, additional changes include:
• MUTUAL AID has been deleted because mutual aid is addressed in other policies in the manual.
336: Victim and Witness Assistance
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content.
2023 California Senate Bill 376, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law by requiring victims of human trafficking to be provided notification of certain rights regarding support persons prior to interviews. Changes to this policy include:
• In CRIME VICTIM LIAISON DUTIES, content has been updated to include an additional responsibility. (See Exhibit 1, Page 41)
402: Biased-Based Policing
This policy is being updated based on a May 2022 Presidential Executive Order and subsequent May 2023 accreditation standards issued by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
Although the standards issued by the DOJ do not directly impact local law enforcement agencies, the federal action is structured to encourage these agencies to seek state accreditation by making certain federal grant funding dependent on an agency achieving accredited status. Lexipol has updated content to place agencies in the best position possible if and when they elect to seek accreditation.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, Pages 43-45):
• In DEFINITIONS, a term has been added, and content has been updated to clarify that bias-based policing includes policing based on inappropriate explicit and implicit biases.
• TRAINING has been updated to require annual training to include implicit biases and how to avoid improper profiling, and the Edit Level has been changed from "State" to "Best Practice."
• ADDITIONAL STATE REQUIREMENTS has been added as a new subsection in TRAINING, and state-specific content from TRAINING has been moved to this subsection.
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content. 2022 California Assembly Bill 2773, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law by requiring law enforcement agencies to include in its annual report the reason given to the person at the time of their stop. The law also specifies what types of stops are to be reported (e.g., pedestrian, traffic, any other stop). Additionally, the law now requires a peace officer making a traffic or pedestrian stop to state the reason for the stop before engaging in questioning related to a criminal investigation or traffic violation, unless an exception applies, and document the reason for the stop on any citation or police report resulting from the stop.
Changes to this policy include:
• In DEFINITIONS, content has been updated to include explicit and implicit biases.
• DISCLOSURE AND DOCUMENTATION OF TRAFFIC OR PEDESTRIAN STOP has been added as a new subsection in MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES, to include additional responsibilities.
• In REPORTING OF STOPS, a citation has been added.
428: Immigration Violations
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content.
2023 California Assembly Bill 1261, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law relating to U visa and T visa applications by requiring agencies to provide assistance with the completion of the application, forms, and written notices of denials.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, Page 50):
• In U VISA AND T VISA NONIMMIGRANT STATUS, content has been updated to include the new provisions and content from TIME FRAMES FOR COMPLETION has been included.
• In TIME FRAMES FOR COMPLETION, some content has been moved to a more appropriate location in U VISA AND T VISA NONIMMIGRANT STATUS.
510: Vehicle Towing and Release
This policy has been updated because legislative action impacts its content.
2023 California Assembly Bill 925, effective Jan. 1, 2024, requires that an agency engaged in enforcing parking laws to verify, using available Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records, that no current vehicle registration exists before having the vehicle removed. Vehicles that have a current registration on file with the DMV shall not be towed.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, Pages 52, 54, 56):
• TOWING FOR EXPIRED REGISTRATION has been added as a new section to address the requirements.
Unrelated to the legislative update, additional changes include:
• In VEHICLE STORAGE REPORT, an incorrectly placed word has been removed, punctuation has been corrected, and a serial comma has been added.
• In RECORDS UNIT RESPONSIBILITY, content has been updated for clarity, and punctuation has been corrected.
600: Investigation and Prosecution
This policy has been updated because legislative actions impact its content.
2023 California Assembly Bill 1406, effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law relating to firearms that have been reported as lost or stolen. 2023 California Assembly Bill 732, also effective Jan. 1, 2024, amended law by requiring law enforcement agencies to designate a person responsible for entering and receiving information in the Armed Prohibited Persons System to verify that firearms have been relinquished for prohibited possessors of firearms and adding new reporting requirements.
Changes to this policy include (See Exhibit 1, Pages 63-64):
• STATE REQUIREMENTS FOR FIREARM INVESTIGATIONS has been added as a new section to include CALIFORNIA DOJ NOTICE OF LOCATION OF REPORTED LOST OR STOLEN FIREARM and RELINQUISHMENT OF FIREARMS VERIFICATION as subsections, which include the new requirements.
Unrelated to the legislative update, additional changes include:
• In DISCONTINUATION OF INVESTIGATIONS, a serial comma has been added.
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 specific policy numbers.
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