61139392.pdf

\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT GENERAL ORDER TITLE ACCREDITATION Employee Early Warning System CALEA 35.1.9(a-h) PRIOR REVISIONS 05/07/20 PROPONENT UNIT Internal Affairs ATTACHMENT: None NUMBER ISSUE DATE REVISION DATE TOTAL PAGES 26.6 05/07/2020 09/16/2024 5 I. PURPOSE: To establish a system to identify and address employee behavior and work product that may indicate an employee may need training or some other intervention to help the employee to behave and perform in an acceptable manner. II. POLICY: The Gainesville Police Department has a responsibility to its employees and the community to identify and assist employees who show symptoms of job stress or personal problems. Such symptoms may be exhibited in job performance behavior that manifests various results such as complaints from citizens, absenteeism, tardiness, or a higher frequency of use- of-force incidents (to name a few). In an effort to identify and address such symptoms and to assist any employee that needs assistance, the department has implemented the Early Warning System (EWS). EWS is a data-based management tool designed to identify employees whose performance and behavior exhibits potential problems. Provide intervention to correct those performance issues and help resolve any problems before they become a disciplinary issue and before the employee becomes a liability to citizens, the department, and themselves. The Early Warning System makes no conclusions or determinations concerning job stress or performance problems. The program is utilized as a resource to assist supervisory personnel in guiding employees to perform at their best level. In addition, the Early Warning System is not part of discipline, evaluations, or the promotional process. III. DEFINITIONS: The following are the incidents used and their definitions in establishing Early Intervention thresholds as shown in the chart below: Internal Affairs Investigation/Bureau Investigations: Any allegation that is assigned for administrative investigation and is assigned an internal affairs investigation case number. Counseling/Training Sessions: Any corrective action that encourages, prompts or compels an employee to adhere Department order, directives or procedures. These issues would generally be minor in natured and could include performance issues, equipment or uniform issues, courtesy complaints, etc. See General Order 26.5 for further clarification. Citizen Complaint: The initial screening of a complaint based upon a contact and/or referral from a citizen regarding the possibility of misconduct. Under normal conditions the supervisor\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT will conduct a preliminary investigation to determine if the allegation is valid and document their findings in Blue Team and would coordinate with Internal Affairs to determine if a formal administrative investigation is required, as specified in General Order 26.5. Typically, these may be minor issues that are best handled at the supervisory level and may involve misunderstandings of department policy or procedures, state law, or disagreement with the agency’s directives. Use of Force: A utilization of force that requires the actions to be documented in a Blue Team use of force incident. See General Order 1.5 Vehicle Accident/Damage Incident: See General Order 61.7 Vehicle Pursuit: See General Order 41.4 Critical Incident: As no definitive definition can be established as to what constitutes a critical incident for an individual, supervisors shall notify the Early Intervention Program Coordinator of any incident they feel has the potential to be, or has been determined to be, a stressful or critical incident involving another employee. Examples of these incidents may include graphic homicides, traffic fatalities, certain child abuse cases, intense physical confrontations, pursuits, etc. The notification should contain the names of any employees directly involved in the incident and a brief description of the incident. Domestic/Dating Violence Incident/Injunction: Any member of the Gainesville Police Department that is served with a domestic violence or repeat violence injunction, or any domestic violence incident reported or alleged against a member of the Gainesville Police Department, regardless of the manner in which the information is received. IV. PROCEDURE: A. Early Warning System Incidents/Thresholds: Although no specific and universal set of incidents can determine the cause of job stress and/or job performance problems, it is important that certain types of incidents be reviewed. The following incidents and thresholds have been established as indicators for the purpose of early intervention.[CALEA 35.1.9.a and 35.1.9 b] Incidents Thresholds Internal Affairs Investigations Two (2) or more within 12 months Counseling/Training Sessions Four (4) or more within 12 months Citizen Complaints Four (4) or more within 12 months Use of Force Incidents Five (5) or more within 12 months Vehicle Accidents/Property Damage Three (3) or more within 12 months Vehicle Pursuits Four (4) or more within 12 months Domestic/Dating Violence Incident One (1) or more within 12 months Injunction Critical Incident Discretionary Attendance issues (Sick Leave / Tardiness) Four (4) incidents within 6 Months Overall Thresholds* Discretionary 2\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\nGAINESVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT *Overall thresholds (combination of multiple qualifying events) will also be monitored and can result in a referral to a supervisor if the individual incidents threshold is not met. B. Early Warning System Procedure: All Early Intervention alerts will be initiated by the IA Pro software. When an employee meets any threshold as outlined above, the Internal Affairs monitor will send the early intervention alert to the employee’s immediate supervisor, preferably a Lieutenant. The lieutenant will then review the information supplied that caused the threshold to be met. The supervisor will then meet with the employee in an effort to ensure there are no underlying issues with the employee that caused the threshold to be met. If appropriate, the supervisor can make referral recommendations to the employee. The employee is not required, as part of this process, to follow-up on supervisor recommendations, unless it involves job specific remedial training or reassignments. C. Supervisory Responsibility: Supervisors are a vital element to the Early Intervention Program. In most cases, they are the first to observe potentially problematic behavior among their employees. Supervisors should proactively engage their employees about potential personal and professional problems that may be affecting their work and when necessary, assess and pair intervention options with the employee’s needs. 1. Proactive Supervision: This is similarly important in identifying employees who are exceeding expectations in their job performance. Just as supervisors should be identifying potential problems early on, they should also be noticing when employees under their command engage in positive behaviors that may warrant an informal commendation or a formal recognition such an official department award. 2. Supervisors should be diligent about identifying patterns in the job performance of their employees. For example, each individual use-of-force incident is reviewed by the chain of command. Although these incidents may appear acceptable by themselves, they may reflect a pattern of job performance that may require further supervisory review to identify potential problematic areas. The Early Warning System is designed to highlight tendencies in regard to certain incidents that may otherwise be insignificant when examined individually. D. All Early Warning System alerts will be initiated by the IA Pro software and sent to the affected supervisor via the Blue Team software. When informed of an employee meeting an Early Warning System threshold, the supervisor should prepare for the me