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OCC director outlines complaint process, staffing and 2011 case statistics
Summary
Joyce Hicks, director of San Francisco’s Office of Citizen Complaints, told the Police Commission the OCC is independent, staffed by 35 civilians, has subpoena power, and closed 846 cases last year with 7% sustaining allegations; the office aims to finish most investigations within nine months.
Joyce Hicks, director of the Office of Citizen Complaints, briefed the San Francisco Police Commission on the OCC’s role, powers and recent statistics, saying the civilian oversight agency exists to investigate complaints of police misconduct, make policy recommendations, and provide mediation as an alternative to discipline.
Hicks described the OCC’s origins (a 1982 Board of Supervisors-sponsored charter amendment, operational in 1983), its independent status under the police commission, and its investigative tools, including subpoena power and site visits. She said the OCC’s staff of about 35 is primarily investigators supported by attorneys and administrative staff, and that the office strives to complete investigations within nine months and, with limited exceptions, within a year.
For 2011, Hicks reported the OCC received 784 complaints (an 8% decline from 854 the prior year), closed 846 cases, and sustained allegations in 7% of closed cases. She said mediations are a part of OCC’s alternatives — 61 mediations last year, representing about 7% of closed cases — and that the office can forward findings to the police chief, who can impose discipline up to 10 days; matters requiring greater discipline fall under the police commission’s jurisdiction.
Hicks listed the OCC’s intake and language-capacity efforts: the office fields walk-in complaints at 25 Van Ness Ave, operates multilingual intake (noting Cantonese, Mandarin, Burmese, Tagalog and Spanish staff or interpretation), and planned online complaint filing in the near term. She also provided demographic breakdowns for complainants by race and noted mediation and community partnerships with community boards and the San Francisco Bar Association.
Commissioners asked clarifying questions after Hicks’s presentation. The OCC director offered to meet with public commenters with outstanding complaints and confirmed senior investigator Eric Baltazar was in the audience to assist with intake issues.
The Commission received the OCC report; there was no formal Commission action on OCC policy at the meeting.
