1997 Annual Report
Office of the Chief of Police
The Office of the Chief of Police is comprised of the Chief, a Staff
Assistant IV, the Internal Affairs Division, and the Audit and Inspection Unit.
The Chief is the director in charge of the Department and represents it
within and outside of the community. He serves on numerous committees and task forces,
keeps informed on community issues, maintains an ongoing dialogue with community members
and works in partnership with them to develop solutions to concerns and issues.
Internal Affairs Division
The primary function of the Internal Affairs
Division is to investigate all allegations of misconduct by employees of the
Department. Allegations can be as simple as a minor policy violation or as complex as a
criminal investigation. Internal Affairs personnel continue to assist the City’s
appointed attorneys in any appeals process which might result from discipline dispensed by
the Chief of Police. The unit also interacts closely with the newly formed Audit and
Inspection Unit examining cases that might involve employee misconduct.
Current staffing in the unit consists of one lieutenant, one sergeant
and a transcriber typist. Combined, they investigated 94 personnel complaints in 1997, a
25% increase over the 75 complaints handled in 1996. Of the 94 complaints, seven were for
excessive force, 40 for conduct unbecoming, 16 for preventable traffic collisions, four
for subpoena violations and 27 for neglect of duty. Forty complaints were found to be
sustained, resulting in 31 written reprimands, one demotion and eight employees received
other disciplinary measures. Twenty-eight complaints were pending at year’s end,
either because an employee was absent from duty due to medical reasons or because the
complaint was still in the review process.
The Internal Affairs Division embodies the Mission, Vision and Values
statement in its daily operations. Because the Department needs the trust and support of
the community and its employees, it is essential that unit staff demonstrate fair and
equal treatment of all citizens and employees, and that they strive to protect each
group’s rights.
Audit and Inspection Unit
The Audit and Inspection Unit (AIU) was
created and staffed in February of 1997 with a three-fold purpose: to provide quantitative
auditing of internal systems and processes; to measure cost/productivity relationships;
and to initiate, formulate, and implement improving methods and systems.
The first area to be examined was the Department’s use of overtime
funds. Staff quickly recognized that the Department’s timekeeping system, in tandem
with the City’s financial management system, did not provide sufficient detail to
monitor, audit or report on overtime use. Staff designed a new work order system, TK98, in
order to identify overtime expenditure cost centers. The new system has provided the
Department with meaningful data for improving management of human and monetary resources
associated with overtime assignments. While TK98 has been effective, it has become
unwieldy due to the large amount of data that needs to be gathered from multiple data
sources. AIU staff began research to identify an automated solution. Several vendors were
contacted and a request for proposals is expected next year. The City will be converting
to a new automated financial and payroll software package from PeopleSoft during the
summer of 1998. The implementation of the automated solution is expected to coincide with
this conversion in order to solve any integration issues.
In November, a new lieutenant position was created to head the unit and
its responsibilities were expanded to include investigations of potential criminal acts by
Department and other City employees. The lieutenant also directs the Crime Analysis Unit
and the Automation Unit in the Office of Administrative Services
In December, the AIU inherited responsibility for intelligence
operations. These activities will involve both traditional protest issues and acts of
domestic terrorism.
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