The independent accountability auditor told the Dayton City Commission on the evening of the meeting that citizen‑generated complaints against the Dayton Police Department fell compared with earlier years, but the auditor identified gaps in how complaints are classified, communicated and addressed.

The auditor, Jasmine Jones, presented the office’s semiannual report covering Jan. 1 through June 30, 2025, and said 89 specific allegations arose from 32 incidents during that period and that review of outcomes showed 26 complaints recorded as unfounded, 20 exonerated, three sustained and one investigation still in progress.

Jones said the office reviewed 95 complaint receipts from 2024 and concluded three should have been classified as formal citizen complaints rather than quick‑resolution receipts. She also told commissioners the auditor noted one critical incident reported to the office that is under investigation.

The report described several observations: the complaint process addresses only law and formal policy violations, standardized correspondence to complainants can appear indifferent to claimants, and the threshold for findings such as “discourtesy and disrespect” is not consistently applied. Jones recommended a survey of participants in the complaint process, review of the standard letters sent to complainants, data analysis on discourtesy complaints and a review of de‑escalation practices.

Commissioners pressed for next steps and for clarity about who performs initial complaint triage. Commissioner Charles Lawson asked how misclassified receipts are corrected; Jones and others explained most initial classification is performed by the officer’s immediate supervisor and later reviewed by the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB). Commissioner Joseph said PSB performs a secondary review to ensure correct routing.

Several commissioners emphasized the need to improve the experience for complainants when investigations do not result in policy violations. Commissioner Shaw suggested expanding non‑adversarial options such as mediation or restorative processes to give complainants a sense they were heard.

Jones said investigations generally met the department’s timeline standard of 90 days, with one exception that took 144 days; that case appears to have a clerical delay between submission and assignment. For the three sustained complaints the auditor reviewed, discipline was limited to training memos and the auditor agreed with those outcomes.

Commissioners and staff also discussed de‑escalation training and the auditor’s plan to collect more data from body‑worn camera reviews before recommending specific changes. Jones said some officers consistently demonstrate calm, respectful techniques and the auditor recommended exploring how to make those practices more consistent across the force.

The presentation concluded with commissioners asking staff to return with follow‑up on mediation usage, complaint routing and possible communications changes intended to improve public trust in the complaint process.

The exchange in the meeting was discussion and request for follow‑up; no formal policy change or vote was taken at the meeting.