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OCC reports complaint totals; public commenters press oversight and case follow-up
Summary
Office of Citizen Complaints Director Joyce Hicks presented August and year-to-date complaint statistics and mediation totals; multiple public commenters told the Commission the OCC has not adequately pursued some complaints and urged better follow-through and public outreach.
The Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) presented its August statistical report to the Police Commission Sept. 21 and answered follow-up questions from commissioners and members of the public.
Director Joyce Hicks told the Commission the OCC received 69 complaints in August and, through Aug. 31, 2011 had received 552 complaints year-to-date. The OCC closed 554 cases over the same period and had 424 pending cases; it sustained 49 cases (9% of those closed), the same percentage as in 2010. Hicks said the OCC also conducted 39 mediations year-to-date and will present a third-quarter statistical report Nov. 9.
Public commenters disagreed about OCC performance. Eric King accused the OCC and the SFPD of covering up misconduct in his case and said his complaint had been closed without being investigated; he framed his remarks as allegations against agencies and described unsuccessful earlier FOIA requests and an inspector general response. Elsa Casillas described a specific assault case (case number 110729499), said charges were dropped by the DA after an arrest and expressed frustration with the process; Commander Beal said he and department investigators would look into the matter and the department would follow up with her.
Director Hicks described national oversight exchanges (attendance at NACOLE) and said the OCC staff has been presenting and learning best practices from other jurisdictions; she encouraged commissioners to attend national meetings and said the OCC welcomes public engagement.
The Commission accepted the OCC report and will receive a more comprehensive statistical packet at a future meeting.
