Police Commission defers resolution to route civil claims to OCC after POA and commissioners request revisions

The Police Commission considered a resolution directing the chief and city attorneys to ensure civil suits and claims that allege police misconduct are forwarded to the Office of Citizen Complaints for intake and, where warranted, administrative investigation.

OCC Director Hicks explained draft procedures intended to number and triage tort claims and lawsuits that include allegations of officer misconduct and to contact claimants to determine whether they wish to pursue OCC complaints. Hicks said matters that do not proceed are marked withdrawn, while matters with enough independent evidence can nonetheless be investigated.

Steve Johnson of the Police Officers Association urged the commission not to adopt the resolution without further revisions. Johnson said automatic conversion of every civil claim into an OCC complaint could unfairly affect officers— personnel files and morale; he and other speakers urged an exemption for routine property damage or for uses of force clearly taken in the normal course of duty. "We're urging you tonight not to adopt this resolution," Johnson said, asking for policy language that would prevent automatic complaint records from attaching to officers for routine, non-disciplinary civil claims.

Commissioners expressed concern about cases that previously reached settlement without internal investigation and said the commission had a responsibility to ensure alleged misconduct is examined. Commissioner De Jesus pressed for clarity on how a claimant—s refusal to cooperate would be handled and whether a civil filing should automatically be logged as a complaint. OCC explained the distinction between an affirmative refusal to participate and a nonresponsive claimant; some matters can still proceed if independent evidence exists.

After substantial discussion, commissioners agreed to rework the draft to add clearer exclusions and operational language (for example, to avoid automatic complaint records for certain property-damage-only claims) and to re-agendize the resolution for the Jan. 9 meeting, with OCC, the City Attorney and the POA to provide written procedures and proposed wording in advance.

Next steps: the commission requested written OCC procedures and proposed exclusion language (for property-damage-only incidents and specified routine in-course-of-duty actions) and will take the item up at the January meeting.