37064391.pdf

\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER TITLE: ACCREDITATION Harassment CALEA 26.1.3 PRIOR REVISIONS: 12/01/98; 01/21/02; 11/02/05; PROPONENT UNIT 09/19/2019 Internal Affairs Division ATTACHMENT: -Hyperlink to City of Gainesville Policy EO-4 Discrimination NUMBER: ISSUE DATE REVISION DATE TOTAL PAGES 26.3 07/01/1998 05/21/2020 5 I. PURPOSE: To identify a policy prohibiting harassment, and a set of procedures for reporting and investigating harassment. Department Members shall also adhere to the City of Gainesville Policy EO-4 Discrimination. II. POLICY: Because harassment weakens morale and interferes with work productivity, the Gainesville Police Department shall maintain a work environment free from harassment by prohibiting actions which harass an employee, disrupts employees’ work, interferes with employee’s work performance, and/or which creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment. III. DEFINITION: A. Harassment: 1. Definition: Harassment is verbal or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because of his/her race, color, ethnicity, gender, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, age or sexual orientation and i. Has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment; and/or ii. Has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; and/or iii. Adversely affects an individual’s employment status, reputation, or promotional opportunities. 2. Examples: Behaviors that may be considered harassment include, but are not limited to: i. Acts or words that a person purports to be “funny”, a “joke” or a “prank” but which are actually hostile or demeaning with regard to race, color, religion, gender, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability; ii. Circulated or posted, written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group (as listed above); 1\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT iii. Objectionable epithets or demeaning or derogatory comments or slurs with regard to race, color, religion, gender, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability; Usage of these types of words will not be tolerated in any context, unless a member is quoting such usage (by another person) in an official police document (such as an incident or an Internal Affairs report). iv. Any intimidating, demeaning, or insulting conduct; v. An assault, impeding, or blocking movement; or any physical interference with normal work or movement; vi. Threatened or actual physical harm or abuse. B. Sexual Harassment: 1. Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is defined as any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favors, and any other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: i. Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment; or ii. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or iii. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. 2. Examples: Examples of behaviors that may be considered sexual are: i. Subtle or direct pressure for sexual activity; ii. Use of slurs, derogatory comments and language (including dirty jokes); iii. Demands for sexual favors; iv. Repeated, unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature; v. Physical assault or inappropriate touching; vi. Letters, notes, or phone calls containing sexual innuendo vii. Displaying photos, posters, calendars of a sexual nature; viii. Demeaning comments or actions of a sexual nature; IV. PROCEDURE: A. Responsibilities: 2\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 1. Point of Contact: The Personnel Services Division Commander/designee shall be the point of contact for support, advice and information regarding harassment issues and complaints. 2. Management shall: i. Provide counseling information to affected employees; Formal counseling may be obtained through the Employee Assistance Program [see General Order 22.7]. ii. Provide periodic harassment-prevention training courses to all employees; iii. Provide information regarding procedures for using the City, State, and Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 3. Supervisors shall take steps to prevent and to address incidences of harassment by: i. Expressing strong disapproval before such behavior is evidenced (vocalizing that such behaviors shall not be condoned or tolerated); ii. Developing methods to sensitize members to behavior that could be considered harassing. Methods may include formal training sessions and / or ‘every day’ opportunities to provide training examples to enhance understanding. iii. Informing employees of their rights to report harassment; iv. Taking immediate and appropriate action when information about a potential offense is received; when they become aware of an incident; when an incident is observed or when an actual complaint is made. v. Administrators, managers, and supervisors: Shall be held accountable for their actions regarding the resolution of incidences of harassment whenever they know, or should have known, that a violation occurred. May be held generally liable for acts of sexual harassment by subordinate supervisors regardless of their personal knowledge of the incident or complaint. 4. Members of the Gainesville Police Department shall not engage in harassment. Harassment will be treated as a form of misconduct and is subject to appropriate and progressive disciplinary action. B. Reporting Procedures: When a member is a victim of harassment, he/she shall report it in one of the following ways: 1. Internal Reporting: The complainant shall inform his/her supervisor about the incident. 3\n\n--- Page 4 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT i. Making Notes: A member electing to make a formal report should make written notes at the time of the incident concerning the facts and circumstances of the incident. ii. Timely Reporting: To ensure a timely and accurate investigation, the member should make the complaint as soon as feasible. iii. Alleged Harassment by Immediate Supervisor: If the harassing member is the complainant’s immediate supervisor, the member may report the incident to the accused member’s supervisor. The member may also follow the procedures set forth below in section iv. Reporting to Other Commanders. [CALEA 26.1.3] iv. Reporting to Other Commanders: Members are encouraged to report an incident to his/her supervisor (unless the supervisor is the harasser); however, other reporting options include the Personnel Services Division Commander, City of Gainesville Office of Equal Opportunity and Human Resources, Internal Affairs Commander, and the Chief of Police. 2. External Reporting: Employees who choose to report the incident to an office outside the Department shall contact: The City’s Equal Employment Opportunity Office, or the State or Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. i. This may be done either separate from or in conjunction with, internal reporting procedures. ii. Employees may contact the City’s Equal Employment Opportunity Director at 334-5051 for information and instruction on filing harassment complaints at the City, State and Federal levels. 3. Persons with Knowledge: When an act of harassment is believed to have occurred, the persons with knowledge shall bring the matter to the immediate attention of a supervisor. C. Investigation: 1. Upon receiving a formal complaint of harassment, a supervisor shall follow normal complaint procedures by completing an Administrative Investigation Referral Form and forwarding it to the Office of Internal Affairs. 2. The Office of Internal Affairs will conduct the investigation. Internal Affairs shall notify the Chief