Skip to main content
Criminal Justice Reforms
Criminal Justice Reforms

Staff Accountability recommendations

The Staff Accountability category includes 28 recommendations. One recommendation (3 percent) has been audited and completed, 5 recommendations (18 percent) are covered by consent decrees and monitored by experts under federal court oversight, and 22 recommendations (79 percent) are not covered by consent decrees and are subject to audit by OCLEM. 

Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Not covered by Consent Decree/subject to audit by OCLEM.
Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts
Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts.
Completed, audited, and presented to the Board
Completed, audited, and presented to the Board.


 

Recommendation

Master List Number


Status

(Updates are in progress)

Require Department of Correction to immediately implement a best practices Early Warning System.11
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Provide a description of the Early Warning System to the Board of Supervisors and the public via the Department's website.12

 

Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Require the Early Warning System to be subject to oversight by an independent civilian oversight entity.13
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Require the Department of Correction to submit annual reports with data on officer discipline, sanitized summaries of the incident that gave rise to the discipline to the Board of Supervisors and to the public via the Department's website.14
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Provide to the independent oversight entity access to all of the Department's discipline data.15
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Immediately re-institute roll call briefings.16
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Update the Employee Discipline Policy 3.41.17
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Require jail staff to attend ethics classes every other year.18
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Ensure that jail staff receive updated policies (and when possible, prior to their implementation), and receive training briefings on those updated policies.19
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Institute Peace Office Bill of Rights training for line managers.20
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
All changes to discipline policies are to abide by  Peace Office Bill of Rights and due process.21

 

Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Develop and implement a department- wide gender-responsive protocol.178
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Ensure that officer recruitment, selection, retention, and progressive discipline are based on best practices, the DOC’s mission, and effective training.326
Completed, audited, and presented to the Board
Implementing an “early warning” software system that will allow supervisors to track grievance trends including units/pods, facilities and custody staff. This data will be utilized to allow for timely intervention, additional training and/or policy changes to attempt to decrease grievances. The Internal Affairs unit will begin training on the “early warning” system on March 16, 2016.365
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Complete the implementation of an early warning system that will quantify the number of use of force incidents by employee, identify grievances and internal affairs complaints and identify patterns and trends for further analysis. The system is designed to provide the identification of problems in order to intervene and prevent.366
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Increase transparency on disciplinary actions taken against employees.367
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Publish and post online a quarterly report of all disciplinary actions taken involving staff. Information would include a summary of the incident and the level of disciplinary action taken. Employee identification will be redacted to comply with all employee privacy laws and collective bargaining agreements.368
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Publish and post online a discipline matrix so employees know what the level of discipline may be for specific policy violations.369
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Strengthen and provide a more thorough review, screening and timely investigation of complaints received by Internal Affairs.370
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Assign all complaints to the IA Unit for investigation and eliminate review by front‐line staff.371
Not covered by Consent Decree, subject to audit by OCLEM
Implement a software solution that provides an early risk assessment (ERA) of employee conduct to proactively identify trends, such as the number of force incidents, inmate grievances, allegations of misconduct and policy violations.  The solution will provide data and analytical reports to increase accountability and monitoring of employee
behavior. Having a system to identify trends will potentially reduce the incidence of misconduct.		375
The Jail should automatically refer to IAU and the Jail Crimes Unit (i) every allegation of unnecessary or excessive use of force, sexual harassment (defined broadly), or sexual abuse, (ii) every use of force that qualifies under strict criteria, and (iii) failures to report a use of force. A Grievance Coordinator with appropriate seniority and training can play a role in this review process.502
Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts
IAU should be notified of every referral to Jail Crimes where the referral involves potential staff misconduct. IAU investigators should receive training on conducting investigations of alleged sexual misconduct.504
Inmate allegations of serious misconduct, including excessive or unnecessary use of force, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse, should receive full investigations. Investigations should include identifying and promptly interviewing all witnesses and reviewing prior complaints or incidents, and investigators should be provided with written guidance regarding these expectations.505
The Office of the Sheriff should increase the use of scripted scenarios and role-playing in Custody Academy courses on mental health to develop and practice de-escalation and critical thinking skills. The Office of the Sheriff should have mental health classes at the Custody Academy audited for effectiveness annually by subject matter experts and teaching professionals.537
Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts
A policy should be developed that specifies treatment timelines.559
Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts
A study should be developed to assess whether inmates who admit to dental problems at intake receive appropriate referral. Dr. Shulman also recommends that patient encounters, the number of dental sick call visits, wait times to see the dentist, and workload data be collected from the dental clinics and reported.562
Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts
Dr. Shulman recommends that after the final steady state is reached as referred to above, the DOC develop a monitoring plan to ensure that the changed dental program is truly stable and maintains the minimum standard of care. A critical first step will be developing an Audit Tool and developing the process for collecting the data necessary for the audit. Dr. Shulman also recommends that the DOC develop a disinterested monitor.570
Covered by Consent Decree and subject to monitoring by federal court appointed experts