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Independent auditor explains access, limits and audit process to Modesto review board
Summary
Stephen Connolly of OIR Group told the Community Police Review Board that his office audits completed police investigations, has access to confidential investigative files for review, and will prioritize use-of-force, supervisor-involved and alleged biased-policing cases but does not conduct independent investigations or provide legal opinions on city ordinances.
Stephen Connolly, the OIR Group representative for Modesto, told the Community Police Review Board that his office’s work is evaluative rather than investigatory and described how the hybrid oversight model functions in the city. "We don't investigate. The department investigates," Connolly said, adding that OIR’s role is to "look with very experienced, expert eyes" at completed investigations and evaluate their rigor and outcomes.
Connolly said OIR was selected about two and a half years earlier to serve as the independent police auditor and that the office brings long experience auditing internal affairs and use-of-force reviews. He described the scope of work as set by the ordinance and OIR’s contract and said the office receives confidential investigative files the public does not see to provide a "window" into departmental processes.
On case selection, Connolly said OIR takes mandatory categories for review (use-of-force incidents and allegations involving supervisors, and any complaint alleging biased policing) and then draws a semi-random sample from the remaining cases. He described that sample selection as taking a printout of case numbers, removing the automatic categories, then highlighting roughly a third of the remainder for full review.
Board members pressed Connolly on whether OIR could help analyze racial disparities in use of force cited in a local news story — a figure mentioned in the meeting that the Modesto Bee had reported ("blacks make up 4% of the population but 17% of use-of-force cases"). Connolly said such definitive statistical studies are often expensive and do not always identify a single cause; he encouraged continued community dialogue, data transparency, and targeted study where feasible. He reiterated that OIR will give careful scrutiny to allegations of biased policing and evaluate whether department investigations reach appropriate conclusions.
On whether OIR issues legal opinions about city ordinances, Connolly said that constitutional or statutory questions are for city staff and the city council, not OIR’s office: "that is really more of a city staff issue," he said, describing OIR’s remit as focused on whether the police followed their own policies and practices in carrying out enforcement.
Connolly said the OIR annual report is intended to increase transparency, hold the department accountable for the rigor of its reviews, and recommend system-level improvements where appropriate. He urged board members to continue bringing questions to the office and to use the board’s platform for public education about how oversight works.
