Filed: Jun. 16, 2016
Latest Update: Jun. 16, 2016
Summary: ORDER RE: RECRUITMENT, HIRING, AND EARLY WARNING PROCESSES THELTON E. HENDERSON , District Judge . The Compliance Director has informed the Court of the City's request for his assistance with an ongoing audit being conducted jointly by the Oakland Police Department and the Oakland City Auditor. The Court is further informed that Plaintiffs do not oppose this request. The purpose of the audit, which the City initiated as one of several responses to recent personnel issues, is to examine the
Summary: ORDER RE: RECRUITMENT, HIRING, AND EARLY WARNING PROCESSES THELTON E. HENDERSON , District Judge . The Compliance Director has informed the Court of the City's request for his assistance with an ongoing audit being conducted jointly by the Oakland Police Department and the Oakland City Auditor. The Court is further informed that Plaintiffs do not oppose this request. The purpose of the audit, which the City initiated as one of several responses to recent personnel issues, is to examine the D..
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ORDER RE: RECRUITMENT, HIRING, AND EARLY WARNING PROCESSES
THELTON E. HENDERSON, District Judge.
The Compliance Director has informed the Court of the City's request for his assistance with an ongoing audit being conducted jointly by the Oakland Police Department and the Oakland City Auditor. The Court is further informed that Plaintiffs do not oppose this request. The purpose of the audit, which the City initiated as one of several responses to recent personnel issues, is to examine the Department's recruitment process and early warning system.
Both of these areas are within the Compliance Director's authority. The early warning system is the subject of Tasks 40 and 41 of the Negotiated Settlement Agreement ("NSA"), and the Compliance Director has "authority to direct specific actions by the City or OPD to attain or improve compliance levels, or remedy compliance errors, regarding all portions of the NSA and AMOU." Dec. 12, 2012 Order at 6. The Compliance Director also has "the power to review, investigate, and take corrective action regarding OPD policies, procedures, and practices that are related to the objectives of the NSA and AMOU." Id. There can be no question that the Department's recruitment and hiring practices are related to the objectives of the NSA:
The parties join in entering into this Settlement Agreement . . . to promote police integrity and prevent conduct that deprives persons of the rights, privileges and immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. The overall objective of this document is to provide for the expeditious implementation . . . of the best available practices and procedures for police management in the areas of supervision, training and accountability mechanisms, and to enhance the ability of the Oakland Police Department . . . to protect the lives, rights, dignity and property of the community it serves.
NSA at 1 (emphasis added). Accordingly, the Compliance Director requires no additional orders from the Court to provide the assistance sought by the City regarding the ongoing audit.
Nonetheless, the Court issues this order to make clear that, in addition to providing the assistance requested by the City, the Compliance Director also has the authority to oversee the implementation of policies and practices to improve the Department's recruitment, hiring, and early warning system processes. While some necessary changes might not become obvious until after the audit is completed, the Department shall, with the Compliance Director's assistance and oversight, immediately begin reviewing these processes and implementing reforms to correct what recent events have demonstrated is a flawed system.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
