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Recommendation to Authorize the Chief of Police to Update Section 310 of the Existing Alameda Police Department Policy Manual to Conform to Existing Best Practices and Statutory Requirements Mandating Notification to the California Department of Justice in Certain Officer Involved Shootings. (Police 10031100)
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Alameda Police Department (PD) contracts with Lexipol for the generation, retention, updating, and publishing of our 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. Based on these factors, Lexipol has identified one policy in need of, or recommended for, updating based in part on changes in State law.
BACKGROUND
Before Lexipol, PD operated on a set of General Orders that functioned as a policy manual for the Department. Under the General Orders concept, the policy manual was a paper document. PD and the City Attorney's Office were required to monitor evolving best practices, new case law, and changes in legislation. Those new practices and laws would then have to be distilled into a new or modified General Order, which would then be printed and disseminated for training at the PD. This was a time-consuming and cumbersome process that required a tremendous amount of City of Alameda (City) resources.
Approximately ten years ago, the PD 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. It currently serves approximately 8,100 public safety agencies/municipalities. Last year, Lexipol reviewed about 9,000 legislative and regulatory changes to ensure the policy manuals it manages stay as current and comprehensive as possible. The pooling of resources arising out of the vast number of public agencies obtaining their policy manuals from a single source and utilizing an easily modifiable and customizable electronic format allows for near real-time policy manual updating and instantaneous notification to employees of updates. In short, using Lexipol has resulted in greater efficiencies, ensuring that the PD’s policy manual is constantly reviewed by industry experts and consistent with best practices. The PD’s manual remains more up-to-date and, more readily accessible than it would have without this service.
On June 14, 2020, the City Council directed that no changes be made to the PD Policy Manual without bringing the changes before the City Council for discussion. This report presents one policy that has been flagged for review and update.
DISCUSSION
The City initiated this particular update to comply with a statutory update. Effective July 1, 2021, pursuant to AB 1506, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is required to investigate “incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian.” (Gov. Code, § 12525.3, subd. (b)(1).
Policy recommended for update:
APD Policy #310- Officer-Involved Shootings and Deaths:
The language used below was taken from the proposed Lexipol updates. “This policy has been updated because DOJ action impacts its content. The update should be accepted and implemented as soon as possible. California Department of Justice Information Bulletin 2021-DLE-03 provides guidance for DOJ's jurisdiction over investigations of officer-involved shootings that result in the death of unarmed civilians. Much of the content is procedural guidelines for the California Police Shooting Investigation Teams. Lexipol has reviewed the related documents and added necessary information and requirements applicable to your agency. Changes to this policy include:
• NOTIFICATION TO DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE has been added as a new subsection in INVESTIGATION PROCESS to address notification requirements. “
The new section, 310 .4.5 requires the Department’s watch commander to promptly notify the California Department of Justice whenever officer involved shooting results in the death of an unarmed civilian, including where it is undetermined if the civilian was unarmed. The term “unarmed civilian” is defined by Government Code § 12525.3 as anyone who is not in possession of a deadly weapon
• NOTIFICATIONS TO ALAMEDA POLICE DEPARTMENT PERSONNEL (Section 310.4) has been updated to conform to best practices.
ALTERNATIVES
• Approve the policy update
• Do not approve the update
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact from approving the policy update.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The policy referenced is from the APD Policy Manual, as published by Lexipol. See the Discussion section for the policy number.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. This action is not a project pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines section 15378.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Chief of Police to update section 310 of the existing Alameda Police Department policy manual to conform to existing best practices and statutory requirements mandating notification to the California Department of Justice in certain officer involved shootings.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager requests that the City Council approve the update to section 310.
Respectfully submitted,
Nishant Joshi, Chief of Police
By,
Jeffery Emmitt, Police Captain
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Annie To, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1) New policy #310 with proposed changes
2) Department of Justice Bulletin 2021-DLE-03
3) Assembly Bill 1506
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager