Independent police auditor finds no 'headline' crises but urges tighter use-of-force review and better camera tracking

The city's Independent Police Auditor (IPA), the OIR Group, told the Santa Cruz City Council its 2025 audit found no use-of-deadly-force incidents and several process improvements while urging new steps to strengthen accountability and organizational learning.

"There are no headlines coming out of this report because there are nothing that is worthy of a headline," Michael Gennaco, founder of the OIR Group, said in the presentation, adding auditors were nonetheless recommending improvements in how complaint investigations and critical-incident reviews are used as tools for department-wide learning. Gennaco said the IPA sees progress on timeliness, complaint letters, and policy clarity but recommended broader reviews that identify training and supervision needs rather than treating each complaint in isolation.

The report singled out several recurring themes: (1) customizing complaint-response letters so complainants understand investigative steps taken, (2) ensuring body-worn cameras are activated and clarifying when deactivation is permitted, and (3) adopting or more fully populating a data system so supervisors can identify patterns of repeated complaints or similar conduct across cases. "When you don't have body-worn camera footage, you don't have that advantage," Gennaco said, urging clearer activation guidance.

Samara Marion, the OIR Group's police oversight and accountability expert, highlighted the need for integrated learning from investigations. She pointed to cases involving youth interactions and disabled placard citations as examples where the investigation could have yielded broader training or policy updates, not only case-level outcomes.

Santa Cruz Police Chief Escalante responded to recommendations and outlined how training priorities are set. "I will sit down with my command staff. We will talk about the recommendations," Chief Escalante said, describing an internal process for prioritizing changes, training additions, and resource allocation.

Councilmembers focused questions on data tools and implementation: members asked whether the department had populated "BlueTeam" or IAPro software to enable cross-case analytics. OIR and staff said the department had purchased a platform and has been moving to populate it; the auditors urged designating a supervisor to manage that system and accelerate its use.

Public testimony during the agenda item included both praise for the auditors' transparency and serious allegations from an individual alleging a prior failure by the police department to adequately investigate a violent incident. Those allegations were entered into the public record and are separate from the IPA's findings.

Action: Councilmember Trigueiro moved, and the council approved, acceptance of the 2025 Independent Police Auditor report and directed the police department to evaluate implementation and population of the BlueTeam data system. The motion carried by roll call (affirmative votes recorded from councilmembers present). The council also received the auditors' recommendation tracker and asked staff and the department to prioritize camera-policy and data-tracking actions.

What happens next: Staff and the department agreed to return with implementation plans for the auditors' recommendations, including steps to populate the complaint-tracking software, clarify camera activation policy and accountability, and identify training modules for youth interactions and trauma recognition. The IPA said it will continue its quarterly collaboration with police leadership and will update the council on progress in future reports.

Authority: The presentation and recommendations were made by the OIR Group (Independent Police Auditor for the City) and discussed directly with city staff and the police chief. No changes to operational policy were enacted by the council at the meeting beyond the directive to evaluate BlueTeam implementation.