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Office of Police Conduct Review reports rising contacts, promises public case summaries
Summary
The Office of Police Conduct Review told the Community Commission on Police Oversight on July 14 that contacts and complaints are increasing, backlog work is shrinking, and staff plan to publish anonymized case summaries while complying with state data law.
The Office of Police Conduct Review reported to the Community Commission on Police Oversight on Monday that contacts and complaints have increased year to date and that the office is working through a backlog while preparing to publish anonymized case summaries.
Russell Pujisau, identified at the meeting as the associate director of the Office of Police Conduct Review (OPCR), told commissioners OPCR had received 182 complaints so far this year and that June alone generated 122 contacts. He said OPCR had 111 intakes in its queue as of a week before the meeting and that 69 of those had been open more than 30 days, but added the office’s intake processing time averaged about 22 days, under the 30-day target in the settlement agreement.
"Our office is busy," Pujisau said, describing both older complaints being reported and new contacts. He said the OPCR has increased referrals to other investigative agencies when allegations fall outside its jurisdiction and that administrative investigations assigned to OPCR are trending downward as staff work through backlogged cases.
The associate director said OPCR expects to complete the backlog of assigned administrative investigations by August, barring unplanned delays related to staff availability, and said the office has stood up self-paced training modules for commissioners to complete.
Commissioners asked for more data about the nature of complaints, including whether complaints disproportionately involve people of color or people with disabilities and whether the increase in contacts reflects increased misconduct or increased willingness to file complaints. Pujisau said OPCR is working with the City Attorney’s labor and employment team and outside counsel to prepare case summaries that include the nature of complaints and dispositions but cautioned the office must comply with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act when publishing details.
"We are working toward including case summaries with the nature of the complaint and the disposition, hopefully, by next month's report," he said, adding that work with legal counsel and Alifa (the federal monitor and implementation unit referenced in prior reports) is underway.
Commissioners extended the presentation briefly to ask follow-up questions about trends and demographic breakdowns. Pujisau said some of the increase may reflect OPCR's expanded community engagement and outreach encouraging reporting, but that OPCR does not yet have conclusive data tying the rise to either increased misconduct or increased reporting.
The commission's clerk was asked to receive and file the OPCR presentation for the public record.
