Pubdate: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA) Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers Contact: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/314 Author: Laura Counts, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Oakland+police Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm ( Corruption - United States) POLICE SLOW TO IMPLEMENT RIDERS REFORMS Riders Reforms Are Behind Schedule OAKLAND - The police department is still behind schedule in complying with some reforms in the Riders settlement, and the department's Internal Affairs Division is especially problematic, according to a report from an independent monitoring team released Tuesday. Files have been lost, investigations have taken so long that deadlines for handing out discipline have passed, and there is no system for tracking Internal Affairs complaints, according to the four-member monitoring team. The team's second quarterly report praised police for significant progress in some areas. But the department has only come into full compliance with three of 51 tasks the settlement requires over a five-year period. The settlement was reached in February 2003. Deadlines for 15 tasks have passed, and one has been extended, according to the monitors. Monitoring team member Christy Lopez said the department has been working hard to comply, but writing policies, training officers and implementing the new procedures takes time. "One of my colleagues says police departments don't get broken overnight, and we can't expect them to be fixed overnight," Lopez said. "Perhaps they were overly optimistic with the deadlines. I think slow progress is not ideal, but it is typical." Lopez and fellow monitor Kelli Evans, both of the Washington, D.C., law firm Relman & Associates, said they highlighted Internal Affairs as an area of special concern in the report because they wanted to give the department a heads up -- even though deadlines for some of the required reforms have not yet passed "It would be irresponsible to wait and then say 'gotcha,'" Evans said. "There were so many problems, we wanted to give them time." The monitoring team was hired as a condition of settling the case brought by more than 100 plaintiffs who alleged that systemic failures by the police department allowed four Oakland officers to abuse them. The reforms will cost $10 million over five years. In the Internal Affairs Division, the monitoring team noted there are "systemic delays at nearly every step of the process" that need to be addressed. In some cases, officers have not been disciplined despite verified misconduct because the investigations took longer than a year, and the statute of limitations expired. Reports have not been tracked, and in some cases, files have disappeared when managers retire. Police Chief Richard Word agreed the Internal Affairs process has been flawed. "We've taken shortcuts and it's gotten us in trouble," Word said. The department has always relied on the "honor system," Word said, forwarding original files to the supervisors or managers. Word said he is already working on addressing problems. A new Internal Affairs commander has been assigned, additional Internal Affairs investigators have been added, case files are no longer allowed to leave the Internal Affairs office, and new computer equipment and a Web-based tracking system have been added. Word said the reform process has been lengthy and "very demanding," especially in light of budget constraints and staffing cutbacks. Word said each new policy "must pass muster with the (police union), the plaintiffs' attorney and the monitors, among others." In the end, though, he believes the reforms will improve the department. Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris, who represented the Riders plaintiffs, said details of the Internal Affairs problems "are a bit shocking." "We have spent a great deal of time on this area, and there are more issues surrounding internal affairs than other areas," he said. "The concerns are that complaints are not heard, and the legitimacy of the whole operation is called into question." But Burris agreed with the monitors' assessment that the leadership is making a good-faith effort to comply. "I recognize that this is a work in progress. It's early, it's new, and taking a critical look at yourself is not easy," he said. "We just don't want to fall behind. Five years is not that long, and the real challenge is still ahead -- convincing the line officers to comply." The monitors said the department had made significant progress in other areas, including taking first steps toward implementing a computerized Personnel Information Management System, which will allow officers' behavior to be tracked and any potential problems to be red-flagged. The system will not be in place until at least next year, but the department has started the bid process to find a firm to create the database. Progress has also been made on a new training system and the drafting of several new policies. The inspector general's office, charged with monitoring the reforms internally, was also praised. The areas where the department has complied are selecting the monitor team, developing the inspector general's office, and exploring the use of in-car video cameras. It has also partially complied with another reform by moving the internal affairs unit to an off-site location to make citizens more comfortable using it. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake