Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Oversight topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sacramento oversight offices warn budget cuts could curb investigations and risk inspector general post
Summary
Sacramento Police Department Internal Affairs and the Office of Public Safety and Accountability told the Community Police Review Commission that proposed budget cuts could reduce independent reviews, eliminate the Inspector General position and cut OPSA's case‑review capacity from 100% back toward roughly 40%.
Captain Brian Kinney, captain of the Sacramento Police Department's Internal Affairs division, gave the commission an overview of the department's complaint process, saying the unit "conduct[s] comprehensive investigations" and serves as a fact finder rather than a decider on discipline. Kinney described the intake steps, video and report review, chain‑of‑command recommendations and referral to external reviewers such as OPSA and the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST).
"Anyone can make a complaint," Kinney said, describing routes for filing by mail, phone, email, in person or through OPSA. He noted that, "in most cases, a complaint must be investigated within one year, which is required by law," and explained that investigations meeting the state definition of serious misconduct are referred to POST for independent review.
Joseph Gray, stakeholder engagement administrator for the Office of Public Safety and Accountability, told commissioners OPSA expanded from five to 11 staff in 2024 and that expansion allowed OPSA to review 100% of complaint investigations for about a year. "We were only able to review about 40% of the cases that came in" before 2024, Gray said, and he warned that proposed cuts would eliminate four OPSA positions and could reduce review capacity back toward about 40 percent. Gray also said one of the positions proposed for elimination is the Inspector General, the OPSA role that handles critical incident investigations including officer‑involved shootings and in‑custody deaths.
Commissioners pressed for numbers. Captain Kinney said the department received "well over 300 complaints" in the last year as an approximation. Gray said roughly one‑quarter of investigations reviewed by OPSA lead to modifications through the joint review process: "about 25% of the cases receive modification" before final agreement.
Public commenters raised alarm about the proposed cuts. Community member Keyon Bliss said there is "an ongoing effort, an attack on any measurement of civilian oversight of the Sacramento Police Department in real time," and contended that budget reductions and meeting cuts would weaken outside oversight. Gray responded that the mayor and council increased OPSA staffing in 2024 to bolster oversight and that OPSA's work aims to preserve community trust: "we are able to provide oversight that is completely impartial, unbiased and independent."
Gray and other staff urged commissioners and community members to emphasize to elected officials that oversight is an integral part of public safety. He noted the combined police and fire budgets are a large share of the city budget while oversight budgets are under 1 percent, saying oversight is "a pivotal part of public safety" despite taking up only a small fraction of total spending. Commissioners discussed following up with requests for specific data on concordance between IA and OPSA findings and on the number of cases that proceeded to the city manager level.
The commission did not take a formal vote on budget or staffing here; the presentation and public comments served as information for commissioners ahead of pending city budget decisions.
