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DPA interim director: caseloads, hiring plan and aim to meet nine-month charter target
Summary
Interim DPA Director reported case counts and sustainment numbers for February and March 2017, described hiring five investigators and a policy analyst, plans to upgrade technology for body-worn video storage, and set a goal to resolve investigations in nine months to comply with the city charter.
Interim Director Forts (transcribed variably as Forz/Forts) presented the Department of Police Accountability’s February and March 2017 statistical reports and described efforts to improve timeliness and capacity.
Forts said the DPA opened 50 cases in February 2017 (versus 61 in February 2016) and sustained six allegations that month; in March the DPA opened 65 cases (versus 49 in March 2016) and sustained nine cases. Forts said mediation referrals had dipped in February but that the dip appeared to be a blip and that mediation referrals had since resumed.
Forts told commissioners the DPA is preparing its budget submission to the Mayor’s Office and the Board of Supervisors and is seeking to hire five additional investigators and a policy analyst. The interim director said the DPA is upgrading technology by moving its database to the Department of Technology to accommodate body-worn camera video files and to support additional audit responsibilities.
On timeliness, Forts said the DPA intends to reintroduce case-management software and implement calendaring and tickler systems so that investigations meet the charter and statutory timelines: "The goal is to have cases resolved in 9 months in compliance with the city charter and certainly within the 1 year statute," Forts said. He described steps including receiving required documents more quickly from the department, establishing paperless transmission and holding targeted meetings at 60 and 180 days to keep cases on track.
Commissioners pressed on document access and the interim director said the recent charter amendment requires the department to produce all documents unless prohibited by state or federal law; Forts said he was working with Chief Scott to establish written protocols and paperless transmission processes to expedite production to the DPA.
