Audit: SAPD and MetroHealth report CRT metrics accurately but do not consistently follow procedures; committee accepts corrective plan

The Audit Committee accepted Office of the City Auditor report AU 24-019 on June 10, 2025, concluding that the San Antonio Police Department and MetroHealth accurately report Crisis Response Team (CRT) metrics but that CRT operations were not consistently executed according to program policies. Michael Gutierrez, audit manager, told the committee CRT handles cases such as domestic-violence misdemeanors involving intimate partners or a parent and adult child living in the same residence, and auditors verified that metrics reported by both SAPD and MetroHealth were accurate.

Gutierrez said auditors found several operational weaknesses. Training records showed not all CRT members had completed required training for domestic-violence programs; auditors recommended that existing controls overseeing training be executed as intended and that a periodic review of training be established. Auditors also found DALE (danger-assessment) forms were not consistently completed in the Mark43 records used by SAPD. Gutierrez said the city recommended modifying procedures so that the Mark43 offense report cannot be submitted until the DALE form is uploaded.

For MetroHealth, auditors found monitoring procedures were not consistently executed: advocate supervisors were not consistently verifying timely outreach to victims, completion of secondary danger assessments, and proper handling and disbursement of tangible goods. Auditors also noted inadequate controls over physical key access to safes and inappropriate user access to case files containing personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI). Both SAPD and MetroHealth agreed with the recommendations and developed corrective-action plans with anticipated completion in October 2025.

Committee members pressed for more assurance about training quality and the danger-assessment process. Councilman Courage expressed concern that patrol officers conducting initial DALE assessments are not mental-health professionals and asked whether the follow-up by CRT sufficiently protects victims. A SAPD representative told the committee that DALE training was conducted at substations in 2024 and again within the last two months, and that two officers cited by the audit had completed training but had not signed the training roster; two detectives identified had received comparable training over many years. The representative said changes had already been made in Mark43 to require DALE form upload before officers can submit an offense report.

Members requested further follow-up, including deeper data reviews of DALE-to-follow-up cycles and possible presentation of additional training or staffing options to public-safety or budget committees. The committee accepted the audit report by voice vote and recorded that corrective actions are in progress.