SPARC

Spokane Police Accountability Reform Coalition

PEOPLES PROPOSAL FOR CITY OF SPOKANE & SPOKANE POLICE GUILD AGREEMENT THAT WOULD COMPLY WITH PROPOSITION 1
February 3, 2014
ARTICLE 3--EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES The Guild recognizes that an area of responsibility must be reserved to management if it is to function effectively. For example, the Guild recognizes that management has the right to enact and perform civilian oversight activities, including independent investigative activities, that do not directly affect or inuence the SPD disciplinary process, or change any other working condition for Guild members. In recognition of this principle, it is agreed that the following responsibilities are not subject to collective bargaining and are management responsibilities of the City. Unless specically modied by sections in this agreement, management retains the exclusive rights to: 10. Adopt by ordinance terms implementing Article XVI of the City Charter pertaining to the Ofce of Police Ombudsman and the Police Ombudsman Commission that do not change any daily working conditions or conict with the express terms of this agreement. ARTICLE 27--CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT The Ofce of Police Ombudsman (OPO) will act pursuant to Article XVI of the Spokane City Charter to provide independent professional monitoring of internal affairs investigations, conduct non-disciplinary independent investigations as dened below, and publish reports of the OPOs ndings and recommendations as described below. Pursuant to Article 3 of this agreement, the City reserves its managerial prerogative to enact an ordinance that implements Article XVI of the Spokane City Charter so long as the ordinance does not contradict any of the express terms of this agreement, does not directly impact ofcer discipline and does not affect daily working conditions or other subjects of mandatory bargaining under state law. The Guild reserves its rights to grieve

and, if necessary, arbitrate any ordinance language or management practice that contradicts the express terms of this agreement, or directly impacts ofcer discipline, daily working conditions or other mandatory subjects of bargaining outside the scope of this agreement. (a) The OPO may receive complaints from any complaining party, including without limitation, citizens or employees of the police department. (b) Upon receipt of a complaint, the OPO will notify the complainant of the following options available to resolve the complaint: ! (i) An independent, non-disciplinary investigation of the complaint by the OPO, concluding with a closing report of the OPO investigation. ! (ii) Mediation of the complaint via the auspices of the OPO and conditioned upon the agreement of the Spokane Police Department and involved ofcers. ! (iii) A disciplinary investigation conducted by the Spokane Police Department Internal Affairs (SPD-IA) unit with OPO monitoring of the investigation, provided that SPD-IA agrees that the complaint warrants investigation pursuant to paragraph (i). (c) Pursuant to Article XVI of the City Charter, the OPO may conduct an independent, non-disciplinary investigation in response to a citizen complaint, provided the complainant is fully apprised that the evidence acquired during the course of the investigation, and the ndings of the investigation, shall not be used in disciplinary proceedings against any SPD ofcer. (d) The OPO, with concurrence from the OPO commission, may elect to initiate independent investigation of cases or controversies where the OPO and the OPO Commission agree that a substantial community interest is present, and where no complaint has been led with either the OPO or SPD-IA and neither a criminal nor internal affairs investigation has been initiated. In such instances, as with all other OPO independent investigations, no SPD ofcer will be subject to discipline arising out of the incident that the OPO independently investigates under this section. (e) Upon the conclusion of an OPO independent investigation, the OPO will publish a closing report on the investigation and, without disclosing the identities of the ofcers involved, describe the event, the complaint, the course of the investigation, and the OPOs ndings based on that investigation. The closing report may include such recommendations as the OPO deems warranted.

(f) The OPO will actively monitor all Spokane Police Department Internal Affairs (SPDIA) investigations into citizen complaints where a complainant has asked the OPO to refer the complaint to SPD-IA for investigation. (g) Upon receipt of a complaint from a complainant who requests that the OPO refer the complaint to the SPD-IA to investigate the complaint for possible disciplinary action, the OPO will le notice of the complaint with IA within three business days. As part of the OPOs role in monitoring SPD-IA investigations, the OPO may attend interviews and may suggest questions and areas of inquiry to IA investigators, but will not directly question SPD ofcers unless the ofcer consents to such questioning. (h) As part of its complaint intake process the Spokane Police Department will notify all complainants of the existence and availability of the Ofce of Police Ombudsman and the OPOs authority to conduct independent, non-disciplinary investigations into complaints against SPD personnel. (i) SPD Internal Affairs will provide copies of all complaints received by IA to the OPO within three business days. Once the IA investigation into the complaint is closed, the OPO will return all case les to IA for retention, but continue to have access to all IA les. (j) The OPO shall have the opportunity, prior to the initiation of the IA investigation, to recommend mediation to the Chief of Police. In the event the Department, the complainant and the ofcer all agree to mediation, this process will be utilized rather than investigation by either the OPO or IA. Assuming the ofcer(s) participate in good faith in the mediation process, the ofcer(s) will not be subject to discipline and no disciplinary ndings will be entered against the ofcer(s). Good faith means that the ofcer listens and considers the issues raised by the complainant and acts and responds appropriately. Agreement with either the complainant or the mediator is not a requirement of good faith. In the event an agreement to mediate is reached and the complainant thereafter refuses to participate, the ofcer(s) will be considered to have participated in good faith. (k) The pre-conditions for the recommendation of mediation by the OPO are the purview of the OPO and the Ofce of Police Ombudsman commission. (l) Once a complaint is received by the Internal Affairs unit (including those forwarded to IA from the OPO), it shall be submitted to the chain of command for review, per existing policy. When either the Chief or her/his designee determines that the allegations warrant investigation, such investigation shall be approved, and IA will
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initiate the investigative process. The OPOs role in such instances is to monitor the investigation pursuant to the following terms and conditions: ! 1. Internal Affairs will notify the OPO of all administrative interviews connected with the IA investigation. The OPO may attend and observe such interviews, in person or via telephone, and suggest questions and areas of inquiry to IA investigators, but shall not directly question ofcers or witnesses during the interview. The OPO shall not participate in criminal investigations of Department employees but will be notied when the criminal case is concluded. ! 2. Upon completion of the IA investigation, IA will forward a complete copy of the case le to the OPO for review. (m) The OPO will be notied if the Chief or designee determines that any complaint will not be investigated by IA. (n) The OPO may independently investigate any complaint that is not investigated by IA. The Department is barred from disciplining any ofcer for any conduct that is independently investigated by the OPO unless such discipline is imposed prior to the OPO investigation. (o) All disciplinary actions will be made by the Chief (or designee). (p) The OPO will be provided a copy of any letter or other notication to an ofcer informing the ofcer of actual discipline imposed as a result of an internal affairs investigation, or any Notice of Finding in the event the complaint is not sustained. (q) The OPO will be notied by IA within ve business days of case closure of IA investigations. (r) Once the Chief has made a nal determination in the case and all disciplinary proceedings arising from a complaint have been completed, the OPO may publish a nal monitoring report that provides the OPOs description of the incident, observations about the IA investigation, and recommendations to remedy extant problems and prevent future complaints. The OPO nal monitoring report will not disclose the names of the ofcers or witnesses. The OPO shall not take issue with discipline imposed or not imposed by the Chief of Police in specic cases.

(s) The Department will notify complainants whose complaints are investigated by SPD-IA that they may contact the OPO in the event they are not satised with the IA ndings and wish to register their concerns. Once the SPD-IA investigation is completed and the Chief of Police has made a nal decision as to what, if any, disciplinary actions are warranted, the OPO shall have the option of opening an investigation to address the complainants concern(s) and issuing a closing report per paragraph (e). In such instances, the ndings of the OPO shall not be used as a basis for re-opening SPD-IA disciplinary investigations or re-visiting disciplinary decisions by the Chief. (t) In addition to the investigative process, the OPO will have unimpeded access to all SPD-IA complaint and investigative les. (u) The OPO may recommend policies and procedures for the review and/or audit of the complaint resolution process, and review and recommend changes in departmental polices to improve the quality of police investigations and practices. The OPO may publish a policy and procedure report that identies the OPOs recommended policy and procedure changes. The OPOs recommendations will be related to departmental procedure, policies, training, or related issues. The OPO will not make recommendations regarding discipline for specic cases or ofcers. Nothing herein shall be construed as a waiver of the Guilds right to require the City to engage in collective bargaining on mandatory issues of bargaining as dened and stipulated in Washington law. (v) A committee of ve (5) members will be formed to recommend three (3) candidates for the OPO position to the Police Ombudsman Commission. One of the candidates must be selected. The Committee shall be composed of one member appointed by the Spokane Police Guild; one member appointed by the Lieutenants and Captains Association; one member appointed by the President of the City Council, one member appointed by the Mayor; and the Chairperson of the Police Ombudsman Commission, who shall serve as chair of the Committee. (w) In addition to whatever job requirements may be established by the City, one of the minimum job requirements for OPO will be to have a history that includes a reputation for even-handedness in dealing with both complainants and the regulated parties. The City also agrees that compliance with the condentiality provisions of this agreement will be a condition of employment for the OPO. Inadvertent, de minimus disclosures shall not be considered a violation of this section.

(x) Alleged violations of this agreement are subject to the grievance and arbitration provisions of the bargaining agreement. In the event the Guild believes a candidate recommended by the committee for Ombudsman does not meet the minimum job requirement established in section (w) above, the Guild must within three (3) days of the recommendation present information to the Police Ombudsman Commission about their concern. If the person is ultimately selected by the Police Ombudsman Commission, the Guild may le a grievance within ve (5) days of the appointment and an expedited arbitration process will be utilized to resolve the matter. The Arbitrator will conduct arbitration within twenty-one (21) days, and issue a bench decision. The decision will be nal and binding upon the parties. Upon the ling of a grievance, the appointment shall be held in abeyance pending completion of the arbitration. (y) The City will require that each member of the Police Ombudsman Commission sign a condentiality statement conrming as a condition of service that they will not release the name(s) of employees or other individuals involved in the incidents or investigations, nor any other personally identifying information. Inadvertent, de minimus disclosures shall not be considered a violation of this section. (z) In addition to whatever job requirements may be established by the City, one of the minimum job requirements for the members of the Police Ombudsman Commission will be to have a history that includes a reputation for even-handedness in dealing with both complaints and regulated parties. (zz) Nothing herein shall be construed as a waiver of the Guilds right to require the City to engage in collective bargaining on mandatory subjects of bargaining as dened and stipulated in Washington law.