POST: Nearly 43,000 agency misconduct reports logged; 2% lead to disciplinary action
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Summary
POST officials told the advisory board that they have logged roughly 43,000 agency misconduct reports since program launch, cleared a large retroactive backlog, and now close most complaints without action; about 2% of reports have led to POST disciplinary outcomes.
The Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division presented an updated data briefing to the advisory board on Feb. 1, saying agency reporting has matured after an initial retroactive surge and that POST has closed a large share of earlier reports.
Bureau chief Brian South told members that POST has received nearly 43,000 agency misconduct reports since the program began and that quarterly intake has settled at roughly 2,500. "We have taken in nearly 43,000 agency misconduct reports since we started," South said during the presentation. He described a spike tied to retroactive reporting requirements followed by a leveling-off in new reports.
Sarah Wallace, who oversees intake and disposition, described growing public-complaint volumes and explained current data limitations in linking complaint intake dates to agency response dates. "We continue to receive an increase in public complaints on a quarterly basis," she said, and staff are doing a manual analysis while improving system tracking.
POST officials said most reports are closed without action after review: about 88% of received reports are closed, roughly 9% remain open with POST, and 5% are sustained. "About 2 percent of the cases we've received have resulted in disciplinary action by POST," South said. Staff said many closed matters were found not to meet the statutory definition of serious misconduct or lacked clear and convincing evidence.
The presentation described intake prioritization labels used to triage potential public-safety risks, and the agency said it tolls cases where criminal proceedings or appeals are pending. POST also said it is increasing outreach and training for community oversight boards and smaller agencies to improve reporting accuracy and timeliness.
Board members pressed staff on nonreporting agencies and next steps. Staff said they had sent letters to nonresponding agencies (about 60 letters, with roughly 15 agencies not yet replying) and will bring noncompliance options to the commission for consideration. POST said it will return to full, non‑abbreviated reviews now that the backlog is smaller and has begun auditing previously abbreviated outcomes to ensure nothing was missed.
The data briefing concluded with staff noting that excessive force and bias remain among the most frequent allegation types reported to POST, while acts that violate the law (for example domestic violence, DUI) have produced relatively more certification actions.
