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OCC director warns budget cuts could force layoffs, mediations and EIS debate
Summary
Office of Citizens Complaints Director Joyce Hicks told the commission mid‑year and next budget‑year reduction targets would force layoffs of clerical and investigator positions and might imperil the successful mediation program; commissioners asked for written numbers and to convene stakeholders on EIS mediation counting.
Joyce Hicks, director of the Office of Citizens Complaints, told the Police Commission the OCC faces a painful mid‑year reduction target and steeper next‑year targets that would require staff cuts and would slow complaint processing.
"The target for the OCC is $105,000," Hicks said, explaining that the office’s roughly $4.2 million annual budget includes about $3.7 million in personnel costs and only about $200,000 in discretionary spending. She said meeting the mid‑year reduction would likely require eliminating two clerical positions and at least one investigator, which would push investigator caseloads toward 25 each — well above Comptroller best practices.
Hicks laid out potential next‑year scenarios that she described as devastating: a 20% target of approximately $540,000 and a 10% contingency of $270,000, each potentially costing the office additional positions. She warned that reductions would slow investigations, reduce timeliness, and lower sustained‑rate quality.
Hicks also described a mediations program that has grown to 74 mediations this year but now faces pushback because some officer representatives say mediated cases count toward EIS (Early Intervention System) thresholds. Hicks and the chief agreed mediation should not be counted in ways that deter participation, and the commission directed an offline meeting among OCC, the chief and the Police Officers Association (POA) to seek a compromise.
Commissioners requested written budget numbers and recommended quickly addressing whether mediated cases should be excluded from EIS indicators to preserve the program’s gains. The commission emphasized mediation’s cost‑saving and community benefits and urged coordinated solutions that protect both early‑intervention monitoring and voluntary mediation.
