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OCC presents Sparks Report updates; commission to audit sexual-assault kit unit order and press for use-of-force data
Summary
The Office of Citizen Complaints summarized the Sparks Report's policy tracking dating to 2006 and highlighted recent advances on sexual-assault kit handling, CIT program expansion and 21st Century Policing recommendations; commissioners agreed to pursue an annual kit backlog report and an audit of the unit order.
San Francisco Police Commission, March 9 The Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) presented a quarter-by-quarter overview of the Sparks Report, an archival compilation of policy recommendations and departmental general orders dating to a February 2006 commission resolution.
"The Sparks Report is ... a cumulative report, so the great thing is you can look at, since 02/2006, all of the work that the police department has done and our agency has done," said the OCC presenter during the meeting.
The OCC highlighted three areas of work completed or underway: improved handling and reporting for sexual-assault evidence kits (SVU unit order and new victim-update intervals), institutional support and a department general order (DGO) for the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program (liaison officers at stations, administrative support and an external-facing CIT website), and a set of recommendations tied to the 21st Century Policing Task Force (including procedural-justice language, scenario-based youth training and use-of-force data collection).
On sexual-assault kits, the OCC said the department already complies with an initial 72-hour evidence pickup deadline and is developing written protocols to address longer statutory processing deadlines (the presenter cited "penal code section 680" in discussion). The OCC also said it recommended an annual report to the commission to confirm there is no backlog; the commission's president said he will introduce a resolution to require an annual report and an audit of the new unit order.
Commissioners asked for clearer tracking information and for policy items that are implemented by unit order or bulletin to be brought to the commission for visibility. Public commenters pressed OCC and the department to make use-of-force data and EIS outputs public before the commission considers any taser-related equipment decisions.
Next steps: President Loftus said he would introduce a resolution to require the annual sexual-assault-kit report and an audit of the unit order and commissioners scheduled follow-up reporting. OCC and department staff will return next quarter with additional detail on Sparks Report items that cross into completed unit orders or departmental general orders.
No ordinance or statutory change was adopted at the meeting; the discussion generated directions to staff and a planned resolution to bring an audit forward.
