Pubdate: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA) Webpage: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/03/17/BAG3P5MB581.DTL Copyright: 2004 Hearst Communications Inc. Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388 Author: Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Oakland+police Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm ( Corruption - United States) POLICE BRASS FLAYED BY REPORT Experts Say Complaints Get Low Priority The Oakland Police Department too often fails to take seriously investigations into allegations of corruption and abuse, allowing accused officers to go unpunished, according to a report prepared by experts overseeing the agency under a $10.5 million settlement in the Riders scandal. The report, released Tuesday, criticizes department brass for failing to make internal investigations a top priority and for fostering a lax culture within a department that sits on such inquiries until they die quietly. "Our review of the timeliness of OPD's internal investigations process revealed systemic delays at nearly every step of the process, with few internal mechanisms designed to prevent such delays," the report states. "The most striking overall finding is the failure of OPD's structure as a whole to support the internal investigations process." Police Chief Richard Word said he agreed with most of the findings and said the department already was addressing many of them. "This is a kick in the pants for us," Word said. "This will make us a stronger department. For years we took shortcuts in this business because we've been short-staffed, and violent crimes like homicide takes priority. "There has been a longtime tendency to cut corners. We learned from the Riders case that taking shortcuts gets you in trouble." Because internal investigations often languish for more than a year, the 74-page report says, officers accused of wrongdoing often escape without punishment, because the state-mandated statute of limitations expires before the case is resolved. "Firm deadlines within the investigative process are sparse, and the deadlines that are in place are not met," the report says. "OPD internal investigations are delayed or halted for reasons that have little if anything to do with the complexities of the cases." The four-person independent monitor's office issued the report under its mandate to oversee the reforms outlined in the settlement brokered in the Riders case, which involved allegations four officers accused of planting drugs on innocent people and beating drug suspects in the summer of 2000. A second criminal trial of three of the officers is scheduled to begin Sept. 27 because the first ended in a mistrial last year. The fourth officer is believed to have fled the country before trial. The report was written by two civil rights attorneys, a police chief from suburban Chicago and a retired deputy chief of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. They were hired at a cost of $3.3 million to monitor Oakland police for five years. None was available for comment Tuesday. State law requires agencies that receive complaints of misconduct by officers either to confirm the complaint or to exonerate the officer within one year in most situations. In Oakland, the report noted that many officers went unpunished even when the complaint was confirmed, because internal affairs missed the deadline. Attorney Jim Chanin, who with attorney John Burris represented 119 people in the Riders case, said he was disappointed that problems within the internal affairs division had not been rectified. "I can't say I am surprised, but I'm very disappointed," he said. "I have to wonder just how seriously the department is taking reform. We knew that internal affairs was a mess in 2000. We pointed that out then. Now, it's 2004, and we again see the same problems unresolved." Chanin said he and Burris might sue the department and the city to require changes in the department's internal affairs procedures. Through a spokesman, Mayor Jerry Brown said he had not yet read the report and would not comment. Chief Word said the department had assigned a full-time officer to track each internal affairs investigation as it progresses. The officer has explicit directions to notify department brass every time a deadline is missed. "We're already beginning to hold supervisors more accountable," Word said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake