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OCC director warns budget cuts would slow investigations, asks for staffing augmentations
Summary
Joyce Hicks, the Office of Citizen Complaints director, told the commission that a proposed reduction would cut the OCC budget from $4,000,000 to $3,700,000, risk cutting investigator positions, and asked for augmentations including four investigators, supervisory and administrative staff, and modest training funds.
Joyce Hicks, executive director of the Office of Citizen Complaints, told the Police Commission the OCC faces a challenging budget cycle and operational strains. She said the OCC's current budget is $4,000,000 and that the proposed reduction would lower it to $3,700,000, representing a 5% decrease. Hicks warned that cuts to investigative staff would worsen already high caseloads: she said OCC line investigators carry nearly twice the caseload of comparable agencies.
Hicks detailed staffing and augmentation requests: she described a staff of roughly 35.73 positions (including 18 line investigators) and asked the commission to add back two investigator positions proposed for cuts and to augment staff with additional investigators and supervisory/administrative roles. Hicks said the augmentation requests total several hundred thousand dollars and would improve investigator-to-supervisor ratios and allow the OCC to meet charter-mandated timelines (the charter requires investigations be completed within nine months).
Commissioners asked about training and technology needs and praised the presentation. Commissioner David Campos pressed whether the proposed $10,000 training augmentation would be sufficient; Hicks said the office also has existing training funds and would seek creative partnerships with the police department. Commissioners and the chair agreed to bring the OCC budget back for formal action next week and to advocate with the mayor’s office and board for needed positions.
Hicks also described operational improvements she planned, including a policies-and-procedures update, performance planning, and migration to a new file server for data management.
