§ 26.1114 — Outreach and Communications

§ 26.1114 Outreach and Communications

(a) The Commission must engage in outreach to address community groups and inform the public on the duties and responsibilities, policies, and ongoing operations of the Commission. This outreach must include a process for obtaining input from the community as to the functioning of the Commission. All public input regarding the Commission’s functions, including complaints about the Commission, must be made publicly available on the Commission’s website. (b) At least twice each year, the Commission must have a roundtable in a community location to solicit public testimony and other input regarding community policing, building trust between the community and the Police Department, and other similar and relevant subjects as determined by the Commission in accordance with the Commission’s powers and duties. (c) The Commission must establish an operating procedure for the preparation and submission of a semi-annual report to the Mayor and Council regarding the exercise of the Commission’s powers and duties. The Commission must publish its semi-annual report no later than 60 days after the end of the preceding reporting period. The public disclosure of the report and all information within the report must be in accordance with controlling federal and state laws. The report must, at a minimum, describe: (1) the number and types of complaints received by the Commission, categorized by description as well as by City Council district, police division, and police beat; (2) the number of complaint reviews and investigations initiated by the Commission during the prior six months; (3) the number of complaint reviews and investigations completed by the Commission during the prior six months, and the number of investigations that took more than six months to complete and an explanation as to why those investigations took more than six months to complete; (4) the number of complaint reviews and investigations pending with the Commission as of the last day of the prior six months; (5) a tabulation of the results of complaint reviews and investigations by the Commission by category of findings and recommendations as well as by City Council district, police division, and police beat; (6) a description of any complaints that resulted in a referral by the Commission to other agencies and the names of those agencies; (7) a description and summary of all evaluations, complaint reviews, and investigations undertaken by the Commission regarding the practices, policies, procedures, and actions of the Police Department as well as any recommendations made by the Commission and the responses to the recommendations; (8) the results of the Commission’s evaluations and audits of the Police Department’s compliance with reporting laws; (9) a description of each instance where the Police Department, any other City department, or City employee refused to provide the Commission with records or information requested as well as all instances where the Police Department took longer than mandated when complying with records requests; (10) a description of the Commission’s community outreach efforts; and (11) a description of any other significant activity undertaken by the Commission. (d) The Commission must establish an operating procedure for allowing the community to evaluate the Commission’s processes and performance. (e) The Commission must establish an operating procedure for the development, data collection, tracking, and reporting of community policing standards. These standards may include de-escalation techniques, strategies, and practices; use of distraction blows; acts of intimidation; detentions; and other standards the Commission determines to develop, track, and report. The operating procedure must, at a minimum, include processes for community input and Police Department discussion facilitated by the Commission regarding the community policing standards. (f) The Commission must establish an operating procedure that describes the Commission’s communications with complainants regarding the status of their complaints. At a minimum, the operating procedure must describe the Commission’s process for receiving and acknowledging complaints and for providing complainants with the status and outcomes of the Commission’s reviews and investigations. The Commission must provide a notice to complainants on the status of their complaints no less than every 45 days. (g) The Commission must establish an operating procedure covering public communications on the Commission’s Internet website, including providing to the public, as soon as practicable, as much information as permitted by law, on the status of the Commission’s investigation of each complaint, the list of all complaints received, the Commission’s findings of the complaints it investigated, and all of the Commission’s recommendations.

(“Outreach and Communications” added 10-20-2022 by O-21557 N.S.; effective 11-19-2022.)